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Donald Koster

Donald Koster image
Parent Issue
Day
1
Month
November
Year
1974
OCR Text

for District Judge

Donald Koster

Pretend, for a moment, that you need help.

Your landlord is trying to evict you, but you are fighting to stay. Maybe he or she won't return your damage deposit, $400 in cash. You're contesting an unfair traffic ticket that will bite into your pay. The auto repair shop has gypped you, and you want some money back.

Only one person will decide the outcome of your case- and t won't be your police chief, or Senator, or President. You'll stand before the next Fifteenth District Court Judge.

One day you might find a notice on your stoop, demanding that you appear in court at a time when you're supposed to be at work. If you're a parent at home with the kids you'll have to find, and pay, a sitter. That's the best hour for attorneys, true- but did anyone consult you first? Even the small claims court sits between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The way the district court is run now encourages you to plead guilty and pay a fine for violations you may not have even committed. Because it's cheaper than exercising your rights.

Don Koster wants the district court to serve the people, first. Not the $50 per hour attorneys or the city's general fund (as the city's obsession with traffic tickets suggests). Here's what a Judge Don Koster will do:

■ He will open the court to working people by holding regular sessions in the evenings and on weekends.

■ He'll push for a drop-in day care center for all full time parents-plaintiffs, defendants, witnesses and jurors- who must spend a day in court.

■ He'll provide for counseling and information to both plaintiffs and defendants in the Small Claims Division, where attorneys aren't allowed to practice.

■ He'll work to simplify the legal forms in Small Claims Court and in landlordtenant cases so that people don't need three years of law school to understand what is happening to them.

■ These are just some of Koster's innovations, which would serve the people first.

KOSTER FOR DISTRICT JUDGE COMMITTEE

Reva Reck, Coordinator

206 Nickels Arcade / Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108 / 994-3030

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