Riding the Arctic Circuit

Riding the Aric Circuit

The mercury stood at 30DEG below zero, and the rosy Arctic twilight suffused the snow with an eerie blush when a DC-3, equipped with ski pontoons, bounced to a landing on the ice of Foxe Basin north of Hudson Bay. The first passenger off the plane, Judge William Morrow, hurried to the nearby community hall, which was redolent of blubber, untanned sealskin and oil. Without bothering to shed his mukluks (heavy sealskin boots), he pulled on the traditional black robe, white collar and tabs, and red sash of his office. Court was in session. For the tiny (pop. 540) Eskimo village of Igloolik, which has existed since 1500 B.C., it was the first time that a judge had ever paid a visit.

Morrow is the chief and only judge of the territorial court of Canada's Northwest Territories. As such, he is the senior representative of Her Majesty's law in 1,300,000 sq. mi. of frozen northland, all of it lying above the 60th latitude. There are only 32,000 people in that expanse, and local justices of the peace handle most of the legal problems. But since those accused of most crimes are entitled to be tried by a judge, Morrow rides the circuit by chartered plane and Skimobile.

The old-style circuit rider, familiar to any fan of Hollywood westerns, largely disappeared in the U.S. around the turn of the century as urbanization advanced. Morrow is one of his few surviving descendants in North America. In Igloolik, he began by explaining the legal system in simple terms and by introducing the other members of the court, who flew along with him. There was a court clerk and a court recorder, a crown attorney who prosecuted the cases from a few notes made by the arresting Mountie, and a legal-aid counsel who prepared a defense after similarly sketchy study.

Bringing the court to such isolated outposts is an expensive, exhausting proposition. TIME Correspondent Richard Duncan, who accompanied Morrow on one leg of his most recent trip, was impressed by the huge amount of flying and effort necessary to hear cases. This particular 2 1/2-day tour involved flying 1,800 miles to hear four minor cases. The administration of justice in the Northwest costs about $600,000 a year, not a little of which goes for chartered planes. The Canadian government is willing to spend the money in an effort to treat the Eskimo the same as any other citizen under the law.

That is not to say that Morrow does not provide some local twists in his administration of justice. "In this culture," he says, "the criminal code of Canada does not always apply." Eskimo custom, for example, long tolerated blood-feud killings and also executions, which occurred when a village informally but solemnly decided that a particular individual was a threat to the public good. When Morrow is occasionally faced with such crimes, he makes no attempt to excuse the acts, but his sentences are usually light.

Six Small Bosses. "We don't have any criminals in the North yet," he says. "These are kids. I think of myself as bringing the presence of the law into these places, and I try to sit down and explain to these people whenever possible. What I'm doing is teaching civics." It is not easy. For a start, none of the Eskimo dialects have a precise translation of the words guilty and innocent. Judge comes out as "one who listens" or, more simply, "boss." In the unusual cases when there is also a six-man jury, the arrangement is described by Eskimo interpreters as "a big boss and six small bosses."

Even so, there are signs that Morrow's message is getting through. In Resolute, 60 miles from the Magnetic Pole, a local teen-age interpreter greeted him proudly wearing a green sweatshirt emblazoned with "Here comes the judge." It was meant as a serious tribute. On the same stop there was perhaps an even more significant indicator. An Eskimo was fined $5 for beating up a friend. He was asked after the trial if the decision had been fair. "I don't have $5," he said morosely. But had the judge done right? After a thoughtful pause, the Eskimo replied: "He spoke the truth."

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