The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-03-18
CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN NEW YoRx

CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN New YORK.
The criminal calendar for the approaching term
of the Court of Oyer and Terminer is almost
daily increasing in its amount of magnitude of
offences Homicides are of such frequent oc-
currence in the public streets and stores that
they fail to excite more than passing remark,
and are succeeded by some fresh horror. We
have frequently called the attention of the au-
thorities to criminal justice in New York, and
we do SO again even at the risk of being
charged with iteration.
We do not purpose in these remarks to par
ticularize any case that is to come before the
court of general Jail delivery in April, but we
desire to express hope that the delay which
has heretofore almc st invariably attended crimi-
nal trials in this city will no longer be tolerated
Under the present system of laws, when a
crime is committed the time of all parties who
have any knowledge Of the facts is continually
wasted in attending before the magistrate,
the grand jury, and then the court which tries
the indictment. We have in New York the
Court of Oyer and Terminer for the trial of
murders, manslaughters, and arson, and the
trial of minor criminal charges. Before cause
is brought to trial numerous obstacles are
thrown in the way of justice. We have fire.
quently noticed the many means resorted to to
postpone and delay trial-days are wasted in
challenging jurors; any man who has heard or
read any thing Of the transaction is challenge;
reading and writing are considered great dis
Cor n Nv ,.,u
sci; then objections are made to testimony an
to the indictment, which cannot in the least affect
the guilt or innocence of the accused then the
lawyers deliver speeches of unconscionable
length, and a trial, which might be disposed of
in two days, occupies perhaps week. Then
after the trial there is bill of exceptions or a
writ of error applied for and obtained; some
judge who knows nothing Of the merits of the
case orders the prisoner to be released on bail,
or stops the sheriff from taking him to the State
Prison; and the whole is carried to the Supreme
Court, where further delay is granted to the
prisoner.
1t may be said that all these movements are
necessary for the protection of innocence But
the most complete justice to an accused, if inno-
cent, is speedy trial-if rich, that he may be
exonerated from the odium of suspicion; if poor,
and without means of bail, that he may gain his
liberty and his reputation. Justice should be
so administered that the rich and the poor should
be equally treated. Under our present system
the rich criminal alone can wage war against
law and public order. The poverty stricken
petty larceny wretch is cast into prison in the
twinkling of an eye.
A remedy must be provided. The Legisla-
ture should interfere. This indiscriminate
challenging of jurors should be checked by a
law declaring that if the court be satisfied by
the jurors oath Of his impartiaiity between the
people and the accused, that Notwithstanding
what he may have heard or read, he should be
admitted as juror. No delay of the sentence
should be allowed, unless the Judge and the
District Attorney certify that there was such
doubt in the case as would warrant its being
reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Under the reformed charter the courts of
Oyer and Terminer and Sessions are held by a
single judge, the assistance of the aldermen
being dispensed with; but as their knowledge of
legal intricacies was not generally very per-
feet justice suffered nothing by the change.