One County Above the Law

During my three years as a resident of Lassen county California I came to realize that living there is more like a tour of duty than a home at times. We tend to think that each state, county, township, and community in the United States will abide by a moral code of ethics pursuant to what it means to live in the land of the free, following the standard bylaws of our constitution. As many times as I heard someone refer to small town Susanville as "The State Of Lassen", I always thought it to be a stretch of reality. All of these people were surely at fault somehow for the things that happened to them here. I never thought that there could really be a single county that could seemingly rise above the law and create their own laws. It is almost as if this county is a separate entity even from the state of California, one that has created a sort of anarchy government. Most people who have lived in California will say that it has some of the most ridiculous laws out of every state in the U.S., I have uncovered a county within that goes even beyond the California standards for stripping you of your rights.

The town of Susanville, otherwise known as Prison Town U.S.A., has a population of 18101; of those about 2,700 are employed by one of the two prisons and 27% of the total population is some form of law enforcement. The small number that is left are either family of law enforcement or victims of their egocentric, better than you attitudes. Imagine how hard would be to get a fair trial among your "piers" with statistics like that! Odds are, if you find yourself on the wrong side of the law and need a jury you will end up with some judges brother or that cops son in your corner. There really is no such thing as a minor infraction in this town and your chances of getting a fair trial are slim to none unless of course you know one of the many hierarchy's there.

If you are unfortunate enough to get so much as a speeding ticket or parking violation in this town you will be profiled as a criminal and you better believe they are watching and waiting for your next big offense. You can expect lost paperwork, degrading words, and crooked happenings in this town so be prepared should you decide to give your rights up to live there. Take head even if you are merely passing through because they would love to have you counted as an inmate in one of their many fine prison establishments! Three things to remember when visiting Susanville:

Come on vacation

leave on probation

return on a violation