Our nation's founding fathers would probably be ashamed right now. Whenever they outlined in the U.S. Bill of Rights the guarantee of a fair and speedy trial they certainly were not talking about Lawrence County.

While accused murderer Roger Marshall may ultimately receive a fair hearing in the triple murder arson case, it certainly will not be "speedy."

It was decided Monday in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court to postpone the case until Jan. 30, 2006, with opening arguments not likely to begin until late February of that year, because of scheduling conflicts for Marshall's attorneys and some alleged new evidence.

So it will be almost a year and a half after the August 2003 fire at the Lyle Motel in Ironton that claimed the lives of James M. Reed, Lolaetta Corbin and John Meyer before the case will even begin. The recent work to determine a jury pool will be scrapped and the legal system will have to start back at square one.

And all the while, regardless of innocence or guilt, Marshall sits in the Lawrence County Jail. Guess who is likely to be paying for it? You are.

That is right. Each and every taxpayer in Lawrence County will help foot the bill since Marshall is unable to pay for his jail stay himself.

It is understandable that the courts system is taxed, but to drag a case of this nature out for so long is completely unacceptable. In a county so strapped for money, taxpayers should be outraged.

The cost to jail all inmates comes out of the sheriff's budget, which is funded through the county commission. All food, clothing, prescriptions and supervision costs must be factored in to those expenses as well.

No, this one individual will not make or break the county's budget, but it certainly does not help. And you could argue that if he wasn't in there someone else would be, but that is irrelevant.

The point is that every dollar counts.

It does not take the architects of a nation to see that something is wrong. Maybe our forfathers should have guaranteed a fair and "spendy" trial becayse that is what Roger Marshall and our taxpayers are going to get.