Sport: Philadelphia Fiasco

In Manhattan's Traffic Court one morning last week, a muscular scofflaw named Johnny Saxton stepped to the bar. He had already paid a $600 fine for ignoring a fistful of parking tickets; now he was threatened with a 15-day stretch in the workhouse. Chief Magistrate John M. Murtagh glared at the young (24) Negro, listened to his lawyer's plea for mercy, and surprised every cop in the city by suspending Saxton's sentence.

It was Johnny's week for charming judges. In the ring with Welterweight Champion Kid Gavilan just the night before, he had butted,...

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