, 1875-10-21

Ono pf Tho most valuable points OF The
Jury system IL It's requirement of III, unani-
nous verdict. In every other pofitico-egnl
institution, the minority rules. a minority
Of ono on tlic bench of tho Snpro,no Court
Of tho United S.ateH can acttlo n caso that
involves issues nf trai,scenslent importance,
but majority Of ten inside n jnry-box is hold
incompetent to decide tho most insignificant
point. MARCUS s1onroS was once elected
Governor III Massachusetts hy ono vote An
iota moro than 10 per cent Of the votes inado
him chief ruler Of great State. If some
scoundrcl had mnliciously brought charge
Of potty larceny ngainst him and had got
fel1ow-conspirntor OIL the jury. tho verdict Of
the honest elevon could not have freed him
from tho stigma Of crime. On the bench,
inside our societies and corporntlons, and
ut The polls, the majority rules. Why should
1t not 10 so in the jury-box?
The early history Of the jury-systcm IL
somewhat obscure, bnt 1t is certain that the
requirement Of llnnni1nity il OF comparatively
ulodorn tlate. Sweden, which, with the rest
Of Scandinavia, furnished tho Northmen who
became Normans In France md carried tho
Scandinavian institutions Of their fathers into
conquered England, still preserves jury
system that counts its ago by centuries. One
ha1f tile jury, or my greater number, with
the Judge, or the whole jury, ngainst tho
opinion Of the Judge, givc the verdict.
When q majority Of jnrymen is opposed by
the minority md the Judge, there ia no ycr-
dict. This IL maiority-rule, tempered by
sort Of cumulative vote on the pnrt
of the Judge. Tile Nortl,men car
riod this systom with them into
France, but when tlloy bccame Normnns md
the province they lad seized Normandy, they
changed about and required m unanimous
verdict. Thus a corrupt fonn of the Scan-
dinavian original was carried to England by
WILLIAM the Conqueror. Before the Con-
quest tho verdict Of two.thirls OF the Jury
senting minority was fined A trace Of this
old custom crops out in several cases after
tho conquest. In these, the verdict Of eleven
jnrymen was accepted as conclusive, mud
tho twelfth was clapped into prison for
his obstinancy. But in tho reign Of EpwAnp
III. it wns settled that the twelve must agree.
Tho decision to this effect contained one re-
lnarkabte clause, adyisng the Judges of Assizo
10 take the jury around with them in cart
until tho luckless wiz ghts managed to sgreo.
Thus was cngrafted upon our legal system
this requirement Of nuanimity, responsiblo
for so much Of the delay, the uncertainty, and
the expense with which legal administration
is justly charged. There hayo not been want-
ing assaitants Of tho idea. JEREMY DENruAsi
says If the work Of forming verdicts had
boon tho work Of cnl1n reflection, working by
the light Of experience In q comparatively
mature and enlightened age, some number
certain Of affortling minority on one side,
viz; an odd number, would on this AZ on
other occasions, have been provided, and to
tho decision Of TINT preponderating number
would. Of course, have been given tho effect
OF the conjunct decision Of the WHOLE This
IL bad English, but good sense. HAI1AM
combines goodness in both whom lie refers,
In his s. History Of the Middle Ages" to "that
prcposterous relic Of barbariHm, the require
mcnt of uuanimity in a jury" YEArMAN
saya, in his "Study Of Government: We
could now well consider whether absolute
unanimity may not safely be dispensed with"
Finally, We may quote in support Of our po-
sition tho report Of Parliamentary CON-
mission which recommended, few years
ago. that, after jury had been out twelve
hours, verdict given by nine Of its members
should bo accepted rs final.