Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-12-04
AN IMPORTANT DOCUMENT.
OfhcehOlders and the Four
teenth Amendment to the
Constitution of the Uni
ted States.
Charge of Judge EmmOns, of
. Michigan, to the United
States District COdrt
Grand Jury.
From the Memphis AyAIanch.

Grand jury.
From the Memphis AvAlanch.
The following is the Substance Of Judge
Emmons' charge to tug Grand Jury. n
Memphis, Tenn, Nov 70, 1870:
Judge Emmons said that owing ID an
attack, which he hoped woul8be tempo
rary, which had during the las ten days
prevented his reading or writing more
than few moments at a time, he had not
prepared what. Il other circumstances,
be should have deemed it duty to do.
His condition would induce the communi-
cation Of portions of his charge in a some
what unuEaal manner The clerk would
read from several authors and judgments
views which be wished TO communicate
as a substitute for what he would other
wise have written. They would not be
misled into the belief they were produced
as evidence of the law. With this they
had no concern. What had been selected
was read because it contained lme gener-
al considerations and advice, aud applied
and limited principles in s=popular form,
which, in his present condition, he could
not as well prepare.
1t is not necessary that yoUhaYe before
you a specific charge against particular
person. 1t is enough that you have
reasonable cause to believe that a crime
or a class of crimes have been committed
by any one, to authorize you diligently to
inquire who is the offender. If outr8ges
have been perpetratcd by unknown par
ties, frauds upon the election laws, upon
th6fevenue or other Federal laws, it is
your duty by every means in horsepower
to ascertain the wrong dOere and present
them for prosecution. To dhis end, the
most general and searching questions may
be put. TIE ody limit, when they are
pertinent snd tending to develop the IN
quired for wrong, is when the answer will
-implIcate the witness. With this excep-
ton l can conceive of few questions an
intelligent juTyman would ask that citi-
zen appearing before you is not bound 10
answer.
The clerk, as before intimated by the
Judge, then read from the charge of Judge
JCatron to the grand jury at Nashville,
and the opinion IF the Supreme Courhof
Missouri. and an elementary book or two,
which Sustained and illustrated the above
d role. o
O am informed some question hss been
made as 10 the amount Of proof necessary
20 authorize an indictment In those
? cases when from nicely balanced facts or
mixed questions of law and fact, where
the law Itself is doubtful, jury, from the
accidents Of local discussion or partially,
O may have q conviction that upon full
z hearing and trial, q court and traverse
jury would 8cquit the defendant. If,
however, it is one eminently fit for public
inv stfgation, if good order and justice
would be subserved by a deliberate
D enquiry and formaTtrisl, with all the IA
cilities for The examination of the facts,
and ihe discussion and determination of
gthe law, which your tribunal SO wholly
lscka, then YOU should find a true bill
although were YOU sitting as a traverse
jury in q trial ! on would demand further
eEoof ir n the Government, a d charge
6 Irom1he court different from what you
q considered the law TO be. In the cases.
however, post likely to come before you,
5. l can givSyou no better guide Than to
ssyyou5sh9lll Ue convinced of the de-
PENDANTS guilt upon the p-OI introduced
by the Government There are no artifi-
Gal or couven ionsl rules TO aid or obstTuct
you in this In dealing with testimony
rIgheully before you, reason as you would
if you desireIto 5ean the truth in any
serious affair concerning the highest in
teresis Of your business or ysur famliies.
The anxielyyOu would feel and the com
mon sense you would employ in such cir
cumstanccs, Sd uld characterize syour
lsboTs as jurymen.
Grand Juries frequently are, and you
may he cgllectivel Orindirfduaily applied
20 Tor the admission OF the dstendant's
Il witnesses. Iu-e this term because you
n will best undeTassnl I9e il ] employ this
common mode of expression. But IL
every iustiGa5ie sense, all witnesses be
fore a q aud Jury, aSfuch, should be the
peoples Witnesses. They can sweST TO
no fac. in which the people are not inter
e,tcd. Il is unlike a private contest,
where one party is interested in one SET
Of facts and The other iG another as they
tend to prove the hypothesis it asserts.
1t is simply sbsurj to suppose the pub
lie good can be subssryei by the p5 Sc
cuti0n of the innocent. But this manifest
policy, in which all agree, mas not pre-
vented, after many years of successful
trial, the establishment of the role thai
the proceeding before the Grand jury is
on the part of the Government alone. By
the Government, not in hostility TO the
defendant, but by unbiased jurOrs, aided
by an unbias d court and counsel; all
alike anxious to put no man causelessiy
on trial.
And here again, said Judge Emmons,
will ask the clerk II read TO you, briefly,
what Others have said in this regard
Whartop's Criminal Lay-Th2 fourth
of Crsnch, the first Dallas, were read in
explanation of The rule His Honor then
proceeded.
In all cases then, where tie testimony
produced by The Government IS from r.
putabie witnesses, consistent and prob
able in itsslf, and deyc ops no suspicious
omissions, which. IS intelligent and con-
scie tious men, YOU feel it your duty T.
have supplied, III law will authorize you
TO fiud abill, although were your decision
70 nd the defendant TO 4 prison, instead
of a public ard imparii l5tIial, you might
desire further proof, and would deem il
quite necessary t. callupon and give the
defend N. an opportunity 10 explain or
1u9.lIN VIII altAt IA apt'al my =. 'AAL''iA
might be susceptible OF full explanation.
Your Indictment says only thag the de-
PENDANT ought 10 be put upon his trial
not that You have heard both sides a1c
pronounce him gull y.
recommend the course pursued by the
several grand in les in Pennsylvania the
District of Columbia and Missouri, ia the
cases read to you by the clerk, aud in
many similar ones with which the books
abound. If you in any case think You
ought TO have proof which the District
Attorney does not produce, apply 10 the
court for in.truc ions AMI it will deter
mine the ma ter
There are some offense5 under the act
oflsTO. in reference TO the naturalization
and e,ec ion laws, which will probably
come before you. / submit to you with
fnII aoproyal the remarks of he emins nj
Iudge Benedict TO New York Crane
inv in reference to this subject Tn
clerk will read them.
The opinion was IS follows:
81 next call ait njiou 10 ile laws IN
tended to regulate elections ard pFevsn
frauds al he ballot-boX. Statutes OF tnii
class. like those of other classes slreadJ
mentioned, were formerly found upon the
statute books Of The State alone, and were
therefore enforced in the tribunals or th'
Stat by the State officers TheE now
4 stand upon the statute books OF the United
q States. The statute is intended to pro