Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-10-07
THE JURY NUISANCE.
A Thing that should be RemedIed
a. SOon ~ POssible-Our legal
Jury system.

~ SO0n rs POssible-Our legal
Jury System.
The jury system, especially the i'm
mortal twelve men to sit on criminal
cases, is one of the relics of past ages.
1t has become part and parcel of the
English nnwritten constitution since the
day Of the infamous King John, whom
at Runymeade the Barons Of England
compelled to recognize the Magma Charta
Of English liberty. Why twelve men
should be selected any more than six or
nine men SHOULD be selected to sit in
Judgment in q criminal case Of either a
misdemeanor, felony or high treason, is
n of those things that Dundreary
would say " no fellah can find out" But
such is the Euglish law from time almost
immemorial, and this country adopted
the rule from the English precedent.
Sucb, however, is the law Of the land.
But in carrying out the law with refer
ence to summoning panels Of jurors to
attend our Criminal Court great injustice
and injury is done to many citizens. It
is a theory Of law and justice that every
mar owes a duty to his fellow
men who constitute society, and one
OF those duties is to serve as q
juror in criminal cases, because
society must protect itself against
wrone-loers. Theories are often all
right but in practice they do not always
pan oct to The best advantage Of society,
for the simple reason that the carrying
out process is not left to the decision OF
men Of intelligence and sound sense.
Every lawyer knows this, yet almost
every lawyer, inspired by the past recoL
lections Of text books (which constitute
a fascinating and charming study, will
defend on theory the most nonsensical
practice known as "red-tapeism," be-
cause there is a precedent for it. Our
legal reporter begs leave to present a
case 10 point which is Of almost daily
occurrence in the city Of Memphis. A
negro has been indicted for stealing a
piece Of personal property. valued at
one dollar. He employs able counsel
by some means or other, and this coun-
sci, by constitutional right, objects to the
regular panel Of jurors, aud demands a
special jury, M summoned from the
body Of the people, 20 that the negro can
be tried by his peers as the quaint
old law books have it, The judge Of the
Criminal Court orders the Sheriff
TO summon a certain number Of
citizens to appear as jurors 10 the case.
The Sheriff, rs is his duty, calls up bis
army Of deputies and orders them to 20
out into the highways and byways and
summon a jury Of good citizens to try
the dollar case as between the State Of
Tennessee and the defendant. The de
puties regulate as 10 how many each
shall summon and each one goes out on
the war path with pencil aud piece O
paper in hand. He has to GIL up With O
certain number Of names, and be does
this by summoning eyerybo " he
sees or meets, regardless OF eter
nal fitness Of things. he summons a cot
ton shipping clerk, who has a thousand
bales Of cotton in transit from the sheG
to the landing, and stops his business
which may entail thousands Of dollars
loss. He takes 3 merchant and biz
clerks from their desks, where their ser
vices are indispensAblei in fact, he soe,
to the trade circles where busy peopl,