Columns

In June 1926, exactly three years after his celebrated trial for criminal libel, Carl Magee again stood trial in Las Vegas, for killing John Lassetter in the lobby of the Meadows (El Fidel) Hotel 10 months earlier.

There’s so much that can be said about the state of our schools in Las Vegas. Controversy surrounds them at every turn. The recent school grades, the four-day school week, consolidation — seems there’s always something to wring our hands over when it comes to preparing our children for the future.

Remember a few years back that a pair of human spell-checkers made the news for traipsing around the country making corrections to signs they believed contained errors? For their efforts, the language-fixers, Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson, got banned from certain national parks.

I wrote about this team who would arm themselves with Sharpies, erasers, adhesive tape and righteous indignation. They’ve faded from the news, but if they wanted an assistant, I’d try to join them.

The same day a jury found Carl Magee guilty of criminal libel on June 22, 1923, Judge David Leahy spared no words as he sentenced the editor to a year in jail.

“No, Carl Magee,” said Judge Leahy, “you, and others of your kind — and thank God they are mighty few — are a greater menace to civilized society, to the lives and liberties of the people generally, than is the cow thief or horse thief.”