The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1859-04-09
Legal Ipjustioo--A Hard caao,

Legal Injustioo--A Hard Caao.
Instances are every nov and then occurring
Ia which the strict enforcement Of law be
comes an Injustice snd q gneyeus wrong. lJ
truth, law can hardly be framed 10 which
there will not be exceptional eases, which
cannot be met by any legal or judicial pro-
visions. In such eases juriea take the re-
sponsIbIlity Of overriding tho law greatly Ia
the horror and alarm Of the legal profession
and OF the bench, but entirely to tho aatis-
faction Of the popular conscience. The law
yers seem TO lhiuk that IL Il better to inAiet
individual wrong and mjdsIiae than to lot
down the dcmaHds Of the letter Of the law
one iota, and the judges tremble-le lest all So
eieiy shall resolve iAclf into original anarchy,
aud all respect for law be lost among men, il
the law is'not rigilly enforced, whether the
Aublecls Of il are wlongod or rghted In the
process. They think that to make exceptions
will destroy public respect for law. This is
great mistake. Nothing 40 much weakens
public respect fur lay aud the courts a. the
perpetraIion Of an obvious wrong by due
process Of law, II Is only Whcn that which
is legal is also just that men look to the law
for protection Ond reverence It's authority
When Il becomes ali instrument Of oppres.
sion, either by the injustice Of ia provisions,
or the nAcxiblo administration Of il in cascs
which are obviously exceptional, public rev.
crencc for the law Itself l. undermined, and
It cannot be otherwise. 1t is cxcecdinglyun.
fortunate when the popular voice declares Of
any decision, "lt is legal bot not Just" A
very striking instance In illustration Of this
principle is now occurring at New Haven,
Connecticut
An excellent Christian woman lies IN iai
in that city FOR doing an act Of ordinary hu
mnniiy, which few women would have refus
ed TO do under the circumstances, and which
no man or woman will declare to be wrong
in any respect Miss Turner is poor wo.
man, who keeps a small fancy goods store at
New Haven. She is generally respected for
her bcncyolcnee, ,conseicntiousness and picty.
Ia December last, little Irish giE about
against her drunken aud brutal parents. Her
little body bore the terrible marks of her
fathers unnatural cruelty hs used "a toss
her up 10 the ceiling and kicl, her as she fcll;
two Of her teeth had just been broken on,
by a Kick from him, and tho prin, Of his
boot heel was lcf in her bruised check while
her neck and shoulders bore tue sears of
former torturcs she was trembling with
fright, and begged most piteousy that she
might be pF5Jetu-f.-~- siisE Turner took carr
Of the child for several days, and then sent
it to friend Sometime after the Catholic
priest called on her and promised her that
the child should not be 6turncd 10 its
parents, but he would himself see il well
cared for, il she would return Il. Miss@rur-
ner consented, but was then startled TO find
that the child had never reached her friend.
and no search or enquiry has yet disclosed
its present situation
The fdher and his friends doubted her as-
sertion and brought suit of habcas corpus
to compel her to return the child. She can
not do this, of course, and she refuses to tell
to whom she sent il, because that person is
married woman with ehildren and Miss
Turner prefers, like the hero she is, to suffer
alone, rather than involve nor friend ia trodb.
le. No one doubts the entire accuracy of
these facts, or the perfect truthfuness ofMiss
Turner, and yet Judge Seymour decides that
she must produce the child-must do an i'm
possibihty-or continue TO lie in Jail Here
is a grievous wrong done to an excellent wo-
man, who deserves thanks and praise instead
Of punishmcnt-but done in the regular adj
ministration Of law. What We contend for
is that law must in some way bo made to
bend to the facts in such cases, ,and that ex-
ceptiGns must be made If the case could
be brought to jury trial no jury would con-
vic. Miss Turner Of csimc. If Sickles, whose
crime is undoubted murder, is to be acquit-
ted because he acted under great provoca-
tion-as no one doubts that he will be--how
much more should Miss Turner be released,
whose net had no element of criminality in it,
and who can at the worst be accused only of
an error of acknowledgement Repu6H-
Can.