venal judge

Knew the venal judges, the venal police inspectors.

But it had served for two and a half decades after that as a means of keeping strikes to a minimum, and it was still trotted out whenever some venal judge thought he could get away with it.

It was a cheering omen for their start across the Western Ocean, and the invalid Governor found himself a popular man on board, for it was generally understood that but for his insistence upon an immediate trial and sentence, the villain might have played upon some more venal judge and so escaped.