The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-03-18
Juric5.

Juice.
There are slways people who ore reaaS L
reform any existing institution OF sor'e'I
The trial Big Jury Is one whsoh Is no" Hsc'
undergoing trial. III EnS'uno' 'oi "',''
vssrsn d fruitless attcmp, has been h'ah'h'
]. ~ change Mt least that feature OF Tue E.'
which requires the verdict to be rehcefed ..
unanimous jury. Sir JOHN IoLksiDaS' ta
Acknowledgement, who became iamouSin tni
country during the progress OF the Trcu
sogsr case, proposes that seven out Of th
twelve DO allowed to render verdict. cx
cep. In cases of "high treason, treason-inur
der, felony, or murder "--all feloaics, w
should say. The New York Legislature IL
been advised By the Bar Association Of 'ha
State TO provide that in ali civil cases, and II
criminal cases not involving the dca''
penalty, nine jurors shall be authorized Il
find verdcts. In Virginia. we ba''
tempered considerably with the system
The strongest argument that can q
adduced Ia favor of unanimous 1"r'cs me-,
be drawn from the fact that everywhere it's
proposed to require that juries shall be Nnan'
imous II the case lie highly important one
This fact Is an admission that the verdict oi
twelve men is considered, even by the reform
erE, as better for the accused and safer for So
ciety than The verdict Of any less number
apd the uDanswcrahIe question Of the friend;
OF the system IS, "Why not haEc tic best yer
diet In every ca5eF 1t may bc replied ihat
wrong verdict where the death peuaty is iii
Volved puts mans life into too great peri
and that g, man should not be hung unicS'
the jury be unanimous. But this answer
like the fact before mentioned, is itscli con
cession that the verdict Of twelve men is
just the thing that society needs. There il
another point worthy Of consideration. Grim
inals always prefer jury-triai 10 a trial DC
fore ajudge. Whatever a men m,y sly WhGr
be has only social lntcrcs! II TIC
question, hs cones to hold, as sool
rs he has personal intc;cs: in Il. that 1t
person should be punished unless jury de-
eide, and decide unanimously, to that effect
The trial by jury may be likencd to theGque-
Gus neteors whose periodical appearance i
necessary for the preservation OF the lives OF
the inhabitants Of this gl)Gc. These seem to
come by chance. Now, it rains during q
whole week, and again it does not rain for q
month or lwo months. Now, we have heavy
dews every night, uGd again wo have ljgtt
ones for long period. This month tel.
inches of water falls; next month half
inch. So Gar rs we can perceive, even With
all the assistance that GOD Probabilities; -
can give us, 1.-THE wind blowcth where i,
listeth," and the rain and the snow fill a
random. But in this region, at least, snow
never continues to fall almost without inter-
mission and rapidly TO week, us tie ran
sometimes does. Til: apparent accident never
becomes calamity. The rains, too, keep The
earth always fertile enough to enable men to
subsIst upon its productions THIS last is The
service which the rains are supposed to bc
intended to perform for us; and they always
perform it. So ii las been with the Jury
system. To see how juriea arc made up to
witness the efforts Of the lawyers to paCE
them lawfully, we mean); to know, as we
do, that often the greatest asscs are selected
wilfully aud knowingly to perform this i,il.
portaut duty; to perceive that many Jurors
are totally incompetent to understand the
law as it is laid down by tie judge: to re
feet that the jury so made up is required &c
he unanimous; all this Is calculated to mako
Us believe that if jurias render proper yer
diets they must do it accdcGtaly-b,
chance-anGnot because they are the rroprl
means to a desired end. But When we real
the history Of jury-trialS, or recall the man,
important verd!cts that have bceu RENDERED
within our own knowledge, and think nov
nearly intallible tho unanimous Judgment O
these haphazard juries has proved to be in :;
many cases, the reelection must give Us taus,
In any war which we may have thought Q
waging against the system as we have re
ceiNed it from our fathers. The service i
was intended to perform it performs. IT i
certainly worthy Of note that whereas IN tn
beginning "juiies Of the rtciaaye" we're re
Quired because such jurics would know mos
about the crime or the case, IN Our day W
select for Jurors men who know tho leas
concerning either. Here, perhaps, is wbel
we have strayed away from the true pat.
We should perhaps return TO tho systccl &
1t existed in the beginning before or fathcl
changed II. Wisdom 10 not confined TO on
dry and generation. Perhaps tie cid Eng
lishmen who required Jurors to be mcn WI
could render an Intelligent erIict wcr
wiser than we. Here ut lealst i, the source
Of all the complaints against the system
They grow out of the efforts made to exciud,
from every jury inpannel!cd IN an mpor
tant case every man whose Intelligence ba.
caused him to learn something concerning il
Correct this error, and the jury system vii
fsese,-re to he "a nonnlur &c u rnallv 4