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Judge Sam Heller is in his 80s,

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very vital,

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very articulate.

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He remembers the 30s,

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the depression, the evictions,

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and his days on the bench.

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Things that I remember,

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while I was sitting in

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the landlord and tenant's court,

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at that time,

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I think we had on an average of 400 cases a

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day.

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so that in five days a week,

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we had an average of 2 ,000 people

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that came into court or were summoned into court.

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90 % of them showed up and some of them didn't.

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I was then confronted,

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as I recall,

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by a daily group of 400

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defendants,

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and maybe 90 to 95 of them came in

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on five -day notices.

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Which means if a notice,

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if you don't pay your rent within five days,

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I'll start to suit an enforceable detainer and I'll

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dispossess you.

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And of course,

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where a five -day notice is given and the

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amount is correct,

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it is not more than the amount due.

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And the tenant has made no effort

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or hasn't tendered the rent.

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When the five days are gone,

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there is no legal defense.

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No legal defense.

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Inability to pay is nothing.

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Out of a job means nothing.

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Sickness means nothing.

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You've either paid it or you haven't paid it.

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When I saw this,

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I couldn't help but

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feel that something has got to be done.

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I can't throw these people out in five days.

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The law doesn't say that you have to throw them out in five days.

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The law said then,

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and I'm sure it hasn't been changed.

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that you can dispossess the tenant in five days.

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So I interpreted that five days to be the minimum,

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because there was no maximum set on it.

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So I first began trying not to

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solve the problem,

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you couldn't solve it,

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but to soften the blow that came upon these people by

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saying, well,

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how many children have you got?

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So I gave everybody ten.

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which was twice the number of days the real estate brokers,

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and I don't want to mention any particular names,

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but all the big real estate offices that have a lot of

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renters were involved.

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I offended them,

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of course, by doubling the five days,

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and then I offended them further by giving an extra day

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for each child.

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Well,

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as it went along and I saw this huge amassing,

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I began giving him 30 days.

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Then a man came in who

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told me he was a secretary for either the real estate

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board or I think perhaps a secretary of

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the big renting real estate firms.

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He invited me to have lunch with the leading real

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estate renters in Chicago.

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And we had a lunch at 24th and Michigan,

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where the old standard club that's now located on Plymouth Court

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was located.

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I don't know whether they already moved out,

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but anyway, it was at 24th and Michigan.

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When I came in there...

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The man who had invited me,

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introduced,

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there were about 20 or 25 men,

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said, this is so -and -so,

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they represent,

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they have 5 ,000 tenants.

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This is so -and -so,

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they have 8 ,000 tenants.

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When he got through,

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there were about 50 or 60 ,000 tenants represented.

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I felt,

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of course, that was done to overwhelm me with the importance of

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this man,

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of these men.

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Well,

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when we got through eating,

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He got up,

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this man had invited me,

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and everybody began smiling.

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They had, you know,

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they had worked on a question they

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were going to ask me,

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an embarrassing question.

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The number of men were there?

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There were 24,

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representing different firms.

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And there wasn't any firm in town that was prominent,

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at least in the loop,

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that wasn't represented.

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So when we got through eating lunch,

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this man who invited me and was so cordial when he came

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into my chambers,

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all of a sudden turned a hostile face on me.

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And he said,

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I'm going to ask you a question,

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and I'm going to speak straight from the shoulder.

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Do you mind if I speak straight

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from the shoulder?

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I said,

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that's where I am.

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I speak.

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Go ahead.

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He said,

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isn't it a fact that the judges decide

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in favor of the tenants because there are more

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voters among the tenants than among the landlords?

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And the 20 -year -old laughed.

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I said,

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you didn't speak straight from the shoulder.

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Had you spoken straight from the shoulder,

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you'd have said to me,

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are you playing politics in that court?

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So I'm going to answer the question which you would have asked

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me had you spoken straight from the shoulder.

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Am I playing politics?

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Well,

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if I were playing politics,

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I'd play politics with

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you guys.

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I purposely use that rough,

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vulgar expression,

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so as to kind of so -and -so.

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I said,

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because you have long pockets,

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you support those who serve you with money,

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and you have long memories.

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Who are the,

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now,

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who are the destitute tenants that come into my court?

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Out of jobs,

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poverty -stricken.

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They can't pay the rent.

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And I said,

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now, when election comes along,

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when election day comes along,

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And the man who has tried to respect the few legal crumbs

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that the tenants have runs for

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office.

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And when he is in danger of being defeated,

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one tenant will be out

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looking for a job,

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another one will sell the vote for 50 cents to

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get some milk for her babies,

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and most of them will forget about it.

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There is no political reward in helping the

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poor.

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But what makes you think?

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that the man who sits in judgment between

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the landlord and the tenant must have the mentality of

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a rent collector.

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You,

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in introducing these men to me,

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I turned towards the chairman.

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You impressed me with the number of tenants

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that these people have.

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Personally,

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I have my doubts as to the value.

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of a recommendation made by a rent collector to

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a rent payer.

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But assuming that you have so on,

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someday you will succeed in intimidating the judge who sits

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in there.

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So what will he do?

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He will,

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if the present number of people that come into the

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court keeps up,

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he will have an opportunity to throw 300 to

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400 families out on the streets of Chicago.

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When a man is hungry and is out of a job and

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nobody knows about it,

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he can control himself.

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But when you take his mattress and his bed and

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the little furniture he has and throw it out on the streets,

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he knows that the neighbors know that he is destitute and

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he has nothing to lose.

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And if you throw 300 families like that out on the streets,

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what do you think is going to happen in Chicago?

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I said,

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now...

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Suppose a wise man comes along and

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has enough energy to tell

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to the tenants of Chicago,

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idiots,

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why don't you organize?

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And then he would say to them,

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quit paying rent.

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When you get a five -day notice,

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ask for a jury trial.

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So the fellow says,

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can they ask for a jury trial?

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So I said to this real estate man,

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what makes you think the right of trial by jury is limited to rent collectors?

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Of course they can ask for jury trials.

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I try 400 cases

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a day, and it goes fast because there's no defense.

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I

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don't think that I could try more than one,

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at most,

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two cases a day.

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If they were a jury trial.

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A jury trial.

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And then,

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let's say, at the rate of $2 ,000 a week,

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you have $8 ,000 a month,

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and in four months you have 32 ,000 people who have

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asked jury trials,

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and the following month they don't pay rent again and another

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and another jury trial.

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You haven't got enough judges in Illinois.

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If they close the criminal court,

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if they close the domestic court,

10:03

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the boys' court,

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the women's courts,

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they close all courts all over the state.

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Well, no, you haven't got enough judges to try your cases.

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And then you'll wish that along came a man like Heller

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who had the courage to tell you,

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why don't you mind your own business and let him mind his business?

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So one of them said,

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well, I admire your candor,

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but you're not doing any good for yourself.

10:30

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Well, of course,

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the result was when I ran for office,

10:33

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oh,

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thousands and thousands of letters were sent out by an

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organization telling everybody in

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Chicago that I have no respect for property rights.

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I have no respect for property rights.

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Did they defeat you at that time?

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They defeated me.

10:53

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Well,

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I tell you,

10:55

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you know,

10:57

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I could have remained on the bench until I died.

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If I could have degraded myself to

11:08

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just go along,

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I couldn't do it.

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I couldn't do it.

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So I was on for 21 years,

11:17

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and that's a miracle to me.

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