The weekly standard., 1869-11-03
Trial bV Jury.

We supposed panel in our recent article
to be. SO endowed, educated and having
such adjuncts in the Bench and Prosecution
as would place them in position fairly to
realize the intention of trial by jury. We
now propose to consider the exertion OF
agencies and causes that neutralize all this,
and often make the trial by jury seem
farce, and oftener still, the infiction of great
injustice to the individual, and greater
wrong to the State and community. ,
+ It is necessary now to present facts and to
record experience in the matter. At the
present hour in our own Courts is it the uni
form case that the verdicts of juries accord
with the demands OF law and the weight of
testimony Is it the general feeling of
parties that the jury has dealt fairly by them
Does the moral sense of society appreciate
the verdicts rendered in our Courts9 We
are of the opinion, from what We see and
hear, and what we know of the judgment
of Others in such matters, that the answer
to these propositions must be without hesi-
tation, NO! III
Why is this9 Several causes may be as
signed for the existence of such state OF
things. First OF all these causes stands the
prevalent disregard of the obligations of the
oath. It a fact that excites the most painful
apprehensions that the solemnityr of the
oath has, to an alarming extent, given place
to mere formality that those assuming do
not intend to regard. For any trivial reason
they believe themselves not bound by its
terms, or void, because they hold those who
administer it, or the government that requires
the oath to be illegitimate or unconstitu-
tional, or some other equally false reason.
Instead of refusing to take an oath under
these conditions they do swear and then
perjure themselves. In our courts of justice
this estimate of the oath is seen to affect
prejudice of race and partizan interest. 1t
is now, in the choice of a jury, made sig
nal point to get men of certain partizan
views in all State cases. Ifa colored man is
to be tried there can be found many jurors
who, under no sense of an oath, will
do justice to him. Guilty, and
only guilty, is the verdict they
render, no matter how insufficient or
irrelevant the testimony that is introduced.
No proofs of character, no improbabilities
of his guilt are allowed 10 intervene for his
acquital. So general is this disregard of
law and evidence by sworn men in some
sections of the State, where rebellion had
its strongest hold, that it is impossible for a
colorcd man to get justice at the hands of a
jury. Again is seen this same disregard of
the directness of testimony by jury in
criminal trials-we mean those numerous
trials for violence and murde, done to Union
men. 1t is a notorious fact that in such Ca
ses no convictions can be had, no matter
how positive the testimony or clear the guilt,
verdict of no; guilty, is rendered, and the
man of violence and blood is turned loose
to commit new atrocities, knowing that if
apprehented, his brethren of the Ku Klux
Klan will he on the witness stand and in
the jury-box and no conviction can be had
in his case. In such cases the Court and the
Prosecution may be entirely competent and
do their duty and yet their integrity and
ability avail nothing to secure justice. Such
juries need not be nor are they ignorant
men-they are men who for intellect are
equal to their places but whose moral sense
is destroyed by passion and hatred of the
government and of the laws. This is not
the only case; but, besides this, in civil ca
ses this strong feeling shows itself to the
prejudice of parties and the disregard of
law and evidence, when there is no room
for personal and party hatred. Even in such
cases verdict is given to the prejudice of
a man because he upholds the government.
Much could be said of the lncompetency of
jurors on account of ignorance but that is
nothing in comparison with the known vio-
lations Of the oath by men whose secret
oaths or partizan hates nerve them to
trample upon the law and to contemn evi-
dence. In these cases trial by jury is an
oppressiOn-all sense of its value is lost.
Under these circumstances something is de-
manded that will better secure the ends of
justice. -