- published: 19 Jul 2012
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A Justice of the Peace (JP) is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission (Letters Patent) to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions. Justices of the Peace are appointed or elected from the citizens of the jurisdiction in which they serve, and are (or were) usually not required to have a formal legal education in order to qualify for the office. Some jurisdictions have varying forms of training for JPs (for example Arizona; Victoria, Canada; and the United Kingdom).
In 1195, Richard I ("the Lionheart") of England commissioned certain knights to preserve the peace in unruly areas. They were responsible to the King for ensuring that the law was upheld, and preserved the "King's peace", and were known as "keepers of the peace".
An Act of 1327 had referred to "good and lawful men" to be appointed in every county in the land to "guard the peace"; such individuals were first referred to as conservators of the peace, or wardens of the peace. The title "Justice of the Peace" derives from 1361, in the reign of King Edward III Plantagenet. The "peace" to be guarded is the "King's peace" or sovereign's (i.e. currently) Queen's peace, the maintenance of which is the duty of the Crown under the royal prerogative. Justices of the Peace still use the power conferred or re-conferred on them in 1361 to bind over unruly persons "to be of good behaviour". The bind over is not a punishment, but a preventive measure, intended to ensure that people thought likely to offend will not do so. The justices' alternative title of "magistrate" dates from the 16th century, although the word had been in use centuries earlier to describe some legal officials of Roman times.
Curtis Knight (b. Mont Curtis McNear, 9 May 1929, Fort Scott, Kansas - 29 November 1999) was an American musician who is known for his connection to Jimi Hendrix.
Knight was an artist in the 1960s Harlem music scene, usually fronting his own band "The Squires". This band gigged in clubs in New York City, and other surrounding areas. It was through Knight that Hendrix got involved with Ed Chalpin, a record producer who signed the future superstar to a contract which Hendrix soon forgot about and left for England to form "The Jimi Hendrix Experience".