Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1859-10-14
THE GRAND JURY SYSTEM.

said he. "and want nom Of her law. we
can make all the law we have any need o.
The writer of an article entitled "Grand Ju-
ries.' which we have seen lately IN a lew
newspapers Of this State. seems to De much
If tho same mind with the member Aforesaid.
He considers the Grand-Jury system a relic
of harharism which our enlightened age can
do better without than with. As there IS
somo snecious reasoning in what he says,
which Is is likely enough to meet with favor
in the minds of shallow thinkers, a few re-
marks on it will not be amiss.
The writer begins with giving the " Grand
Jury " an odious name. calling it "a secret,
or parte inqmsiion." An inqaisition ?
"The Grand Jury an Inquisition p asks the
man who goes by sound more than by sense,
to whom the word Inquisition suggests
that borrid tribunal which for so long a
time made Christendom shudder whenever its
name was mentioned. and he SAYS at once.
that if the Grand Jury is any thing like
"The Inquisition," it cannot be done away
with too soon. Yet light and darkness, jus
tice and injustice, kindness and cruelty are
not more alike than the two.
The writer saws the Gra0d-Juryis a "relic
Of a darker and more despotic age" yet he
admits "its formr usefulness as a shield
against arbitrary power, "A clear admission
that it could not have been originated as an
engine of oppression, but the contrary.
And in fact il is. in our day. as much a shield
for the weak against the strong as it ever was.
Were it removed there would be ten times the
opportunity that there now is, for those who
are rich, passionate, and ~revengeful. to intim-
idate, harass, and oppress the poor and the
defaneeless. who might oppose or displease
them-saying nothing OF the greater ease with
which rich and influential law breakers would
escape the laws penalties.
Let Us look for a moment at the way in
which The Grand-Jury' is made up. The
Graa.-Jurors are selected by the mag
istrates in every Town, yearly,
from their fellow towns-men. and are APP
proved by the people in town-meeting.
They are selected with care, the very
purpose being to have them men Of knoora and
fried character, men Of pro5fy and fairness.
Taken from the men Of diverse e%mployments
and professions in the community. they are
well known by their fellow citizens. and as
responsible to public sentiment as members
Of the Petit Jury, or any other public officials
are. The names Of those who are to belong
to any panel are drawn by the Sheriff, in each
Town, from the box which contain the names
Of al appointed by the voters to be Grand
Jurors, and the drawing is done in the pre-
sence Of public officers Of the Town. The
eighteen men, s. determined, are sworn in
open Court " TO present no man for envy,
hatred. or malice; and to lelve no man un-
presented Tor love, fear, favor, affection, or
hope Of reward, "to present things Jraly,'
as they come to their knowledge, to the best
of their understanding. " according to the
laws Of this State" To suppose that such
ii body of men can s9metImes err, is only to
suppose them human. To suppose them very
liable, as a body, to be aetuated by perverse
and malicious sentiment, is absurd.
But, says the writer, it is er pqrte. Of
course it is. From the necessity Of tine case
the Grlnd-Jury must decide on ca parle tes-
imony, and 50 must a rown-Grand-Juror'
or any other complaining officer, and a sin
gle man is far more liable to be influenced by
some unworthy motive to make a complain t
or to avoid making it, than twelve out of
eighteen granddaughter are. Malice, he
says, 'can weave a web that viii ensnare an
unsuspccting Grand Jury 1t can do the
same for any single olhcill Of the law, to the
injury of the innocent, in time, expense. and
reputation for the time being and it can
briI 2 an influence to bear on the single Off
Ger which the Grand-Jury would never feel.
"Half Of the State cases. says the writer,
"end in acquittal, mol. pros. or abatement,
~ bAAO SANob anu AAtIA4NoS EAiCAlrt Ol Tic
STATE" The SAM may be said OF the cases
which get before the courts without the in
tervention of a grand jury; and besides those,
many more which now do not come before
the courts at all. because the Grand-Jury
find no bill, would, without a Grand-Jury
system, get in there in other ways, to fare
no differently; having in the mean time
however, been a source Of most unjust vexa-
ton, expense, and temporary discredit to
the individual. The secresy of the Grand
Jury room, which the writer complains of.
rarely indeed works to the injury of the in
nocent but often, very often to their protec-
hOn ITO a sensitive and upright mind an
indictment comes, " he says, with as terrible
a vengeance as any the law can i~ndict." OF
course an indictment is very painful to an
upright mind, and so is an information
from a ''Town-Grand-Juror," or from a
States-Attorney. In either case the mar of
upright mind is subjected to bonds and trial,
and must solace himself as well as he can
with the expectation that a raGl will place
him clear Of imputaion before the world. To
say that an accusation is as terrible as any
,nhalOn of the law where one is declared to
be guilty, seems to us preposterous.
But the writer says q nB an ing1asfion.
This involves in its very name al the odious
features of Tyranny and Oppression For
that very reason, then, he has no right to
apply that term to it in a way to confound
the perceptions of the unwary. The Grand
Jury makes inquiry, to be sure, into the evid-
ence brought before it regarding any alleged
infractions of the criminal law of the State.
and if, on the evidence. it believes there is
sufficient evidence to make a complaint. it
makes one for that is what an indictment
is, OF course it makes this inquiry privately:
a public discussion whether there were eyid-
ence enough to indiot a man for anv great
offence would of course result in his getting