A very upsetting ruling came down recently from Appellate Justice Paul Vallee.

Shocked by the discovery that three men were held in jail for five days before being arraigned, he stated in an opinion, “It appears the police are permitted to flout, defy and violate the law they are sworn to uphold.”

Asked for a ruling on Justice Vallee’s opinion, City Atty. Arnebergh advised Chief Parker that prisoners must be arraigned within two days after being arrested, to be taken before a magistrate without delay. It also raises the question whether it’s legal to arrest a person on “suspicion.”

That hollow laughter you hear is from those who weren’t so lucky.

Weinstock also writes about the death of Victor Angel, who was fatally injured by the falling body of Louise Albina Stark after she jumped off the seventh-floor ledge of a building at Broadway and 4th St.

This column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was republished on latimes.com in 2009.