Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1872-08-01
TRIAL. By JURY.

! 10 not time tha, tho laws relasirr IN
'hs 'mrsnelling Of juries should be revis-
ed In the psccnrirg cs the jury for ta..
trial OF Stokes. several days were lost be-
cause !, was difficult 20 6nd twelve mc,,
out Of the entire population Of New Y"k.
who had ro opinion" a. TO the innocence.
or snils Of the prisoner. I, was not until
after the Court had EXAMINED upssfis of
Thousand freemea on the jury list. tha.
The requisite number OF Jurors we're Oh
tanned. The same difficulty occurred ia
the memorable case Of Sick.es and Ecy.
at Washington snrhe fourteen years sss.
when IL seemed likely ,ha, no trial ~oi;ld
De had. because every one had a1 lpir.
Ton. 60 1t was with Mrs Laura Z. Fair.
and so /. has been. in fact. in ever cas-,
which has greatly interested tie public -
60 II will he in future. 80 long - The law
shall stand as il is. until. perhaps, se.A,,
pre-eminent criminal shall escape trial al
together in consequence Of it. and then
the aratae,ic public nay be rouscd to ic-.
digna'icn. and sweep away the legal :t.
slrdh-.
Siiney Smith was rip1tivhen hs said
that u" ef,rt could be msde to avert rail-
way accidents until bishop had becn
killed. TIE principle applies equally I"
the impanelllng OF Jurics 20 trv illaS,rinnt
crim.aals under the prrseu, system which
excludes from the jury mtn who may
have read the newspapers with scHcicct
interest to form n conc,usiun," or VII"
!nsy have heard the ca-c t.isoi about ~
discussed. As il il could be .pos.b,s II,
these days of newsp,p pcrs aud free speech.
Tor any man who WAS no; abso.ut>i, 4 re
c!rse TO avoid hearing or reading the par
tIcularS O. \ great chime which W.. che
town talk. and the common subject of dIa
course throughout the world The law
which would exclude man from serving
on a jury for such r reason as this is basel
upon low sud erroneous estimate of hu-
man nature, aud upon the assumption that
the newspaper reports and the current
talk contain all tue facts "a tue case II
assumes tua.. rs aru,c. jnrymcn vii! .os
DO their da;y; aud ,ha; h,y W.! no; "wel!
anl truly try. aud a .,nc verdic, give ar-
cor,'ipg 10 tie ctiIt nee" rs they AT, sven
- d.. |, takes for granted that u :far
VII" has read II newspaper report becomes
81 BIASED by it rs not to be trusted to irv
the case. forgetting. or wiifully overlook
,ug III" fact that uc's: paper reports arc gath
cred hastily aud put together without
any logical sequence; and ,ha, in almost
every ease there are circumstances which
cannot be elected except through n search
ing examination OF the witnesses. yet which
, may materially alter the aspect of the Of
/ fence, or perhaps establish the innocence
of ,h" accused: Newspaper reports. too.
are frequ an,!y inaccurate indeed. il is
wonderful they are not oficncr SO than
one finds ;hcIr 20 I've. considering tho haste
with which tho reporter has to collect 's.a
particulars. and the difficulties he often
has TO contend with in obtaining them
There is possibility of having too much
Of good thing, and the law. in its anxi-
ETY. TO secure to every offender, or suSpec-
tel offender. a fair trial. has gone SO II,
n almost to prevent his being tried at al.
Trial BY jury becomes almost inopera,iva
under such system. IL was originals
intended to be protection quite Is mutR
.n .l:c society rs TO the criminal II gave
the people the power OF melting out Justice
for themselves upon those who proved
upon the community and it prevented ty-
rants f,om arbitrarily fixing criminal,y
upon innocent men hu, it never was de
si.nel To- favor thr escape of the guilty..
rs would almost seem 10 be tho case nor
Trials. ~ n present conducted. espcei.
ally in New York appear to be dramat,
n.rfnTmanc-s got up with view 10 collect
ING crow led audiences. the accused bcin.
the centre OF interest. the counsel the chief
performers. aud viring with each other
and with the Court in developing the mo-,
sensational situations. lr!or Ia the graz j
dnal den,"" {, the n-qui;tal Of Ia. g.
cuscd. There are. however. executions
tp this rule in 'he cases OF poor wTctch-s
wLo h:ve r,ithc- money uo friends Evt
let the cu'prit. If man. b. rich or no,o
rlous. or we'll known as n po';ticiln o. 4
sportsman or. If woman, be L.au,iful
nEd much talked about. esnccial'y witt,
s0mc riI"1u' scandal attached tn her nam.
aid the Law Is at once s.raiucd - the ~.
most to procure n release. Counsel bccomo
enthusiastic ami fui ious. the jury and ..f~
pubic symTathize, the Judge 10 mas Ls
Own view. {! TIC case, sn, ro.hinS, anl
burst ot cheering cuslcs forth from an irrc
pEessible crowd "a the popular rrisoncri.
pronounced mot guilty" All Of which j,
is Lunhly submitted. is wrong II I,
well to feel sorrow Tia, any human bcin.
should be placed in dock ; bu, the ire,
consideration should be the welfare Of So
cicty, and that. as>ure,!iy, is hot advanced
by rendering II almost impossible TO pr:
knsves under re-,rnint hy trying them for
,hel: oicuces -Phiiad,iphta Ledger.