Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1870-05-24

a Judge may ''direct" or control the ver-
diet of a jury, there is no good reason why
he may not himself decide the cause at
once in those cases where the public in
tercst is not at stake. Nay, there are ap-
parent many reasons why it we're better
| so. "a ...... /
]. For example, jurors, if not always
ignorant, are at least generally unaccus-
toned to performing judicial functions,
and are as unframed for and unskilled in
that kind of labor as the judge who "di-
rects" them is in building steam engines.
Now there is no appropriateness in taking
men from every calling In every walk of
life to perform, without previous training,
one of the most delicate and difficult func-
tlons of government except it be, as we
have before said in those cases of public
concern in which political considerations
outweigh all others. Yet it is often, nay,
generally, done. On the other hand,
Judges, if not always skilful, are always
of respectable standing in profession
which is trained in the study and practice
of the law !; and they are not seldom men
of unsullcd honor and profound sagac-
ity. a" .# a#ia.r# ..-
2. Jurors may be, and often are, i'm
posed upon and misled by the artful soph-
istrics of an advocate, if he be popular
favorite. Judges are rarely deceived by
the tricks of the trade. '
3. In theory of law jurors are judges
of fact only; in practice they are many
times judges of both law and fact, rcccv-
ing the charge of the court with becoming
, mcekness, and then deciding according to
their own notions Of law and right. This
, is especially so in civil causes, where the
government or great corporation is n
party against private individuals. In
such cases it is often nearly impossible TO
: obtain fair and impartial verdict We
: could name county where railroad
f company was never known to win the ver-
! dict, no matter what the law or the evil
. dence might be, or how often the verdict
0 might be set aside, or judgments reversed
by the superior tribunals; and railroad
! cases are of common occurrence there
We could name another county in which
r verdicts have been set aside and judgments
t reversed by the higher courts no less than
a eight times in single case, and still the
f popular element continues speak through
: the jury against the solemn Judgment Of
y some of the purest and best men on the
$ bench. Yet this a mere civil action fol
damages, in which the public have no in
Il terest whatever; but there is a popular
It jealousy of corporations to be gratifed
and so, ght or wrong, the verdict is al
e ways for the plaintiff. Such abuses car
t only become frequent under the jury-sys
is TEN, and could hardly occur with any
IS Judge who has any professional pride, t.
" say nothing of honesty. That kind o
/. contumacy amounts to species of nullifi
!, cation, and any Judge who should attemp
it and persist in it would be speedily i'm
peached and removed.
h 4. Jurors are beyond the reach o
}. impeachment because their office ends will
IS the finding of the verdict. Not only so
a they are practically beyond the reach o
!. any punishment for false verdict. Il
the oden times writ of attaint lay t,
}. inquire whether jury Of twelve men CAV,
s a false verdict, and if the grand jury o
!. attaint found the verdict to have been oh
;, tanned by corruption Of the jury, the ju
# rors were outlawed and made forever in
= famous and were also punished by .confs
v cation and Imprisonment. If this remed,
was ever adopted in this country, it lony
!. since fell into disuse. Jurors now sit ant
It determine the rights of parties withou
o any responsibility to tie law except 70
t. perjury and taking bribes, and these char
h ges, and particularly the first, from tn
very nature of the case can with dif1icul
10 ty, and only at rare intervals, be substan
I'll tiated.
/ The defects which have been enumera
,fl ted, and they are not all that could be men
e, toned, are not accidental, but essentia
/. defects of the system. They are defect
D which may be tolerated in causes of pub
d lie nature for the sake of insuring th
z perpetual sovereignty Of the people; bu
ID which in the trial of private suits are
G. burdensome and growing evil. q4d
ID CATER all, !" says Blackstone, 'it mus
y be owned. that the best and most efTectu
b, al method to preserve and extend the tria
c. by jury in practice, would be by endcay
SO oring to remove all defects, as well as {
y improve the advantages incident to thi
of mode of inquiry. Injustice is not don
pit to the entire satisfaction Of the people !
ly this method Of deciding facts, in spite (