Pioche daily record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1872-1876, 1875-10-17
THE JURY SYSTEM.

THE JURY SYSTEM.
For nearly thousand years the jury
svstem has been banded down to us as
sort of sacred system and half divine
method of adjudication, and though il
was vast moral improvement over the
absurd system Of justice prior to its in
PRODUCTION, yet it has become sort Of
mild nuisance and stupid procedure in
the last hundred and fifty years. The
jury system, while theoretically almost
perfect, is practically becoming more and
more inadequate every decade and is full
Of most glaring absurdities. 1t has out
lived its day of usefulness and deserves
10 be outlawed rs undeserving of observ-
ance in the nineteenth century. Let us
consider few of its most prominent
Iailings. Theoretically speaking, when
q man is tried it is by Jury of his
peers" This sounds well, but what
does it signify? The word "peer" as
here used is delusion. 1t simply means
that the juror has the same power or
political privilege as the man on trial,
but it is harder TO try one by Jury OF
his peers" than to find the philosophers
stone. A woman has never yet. 20 our
knowledge, been tried by her peers, nor
a slave, nor an infant. and very rarely
man. Suppose in the Beecher case the
reverend adultcrer had stood on technic-
alities and demanded trial by his
"peers," where could they be found?
America might be unsuccessfully ran
sacked to find twelve good men and true
his peers in power and privilege. and if
that jury had been impaneled there
would have been no disagreement. The
ordinary jury is an embodiment OF in
competency. Men are taken from the
different walks Of life, from the desk. the
loom. the forge. the mine, the counter,
men whose minds run in set grooves,
with set prejudices. with special ways and
modes Of thinking, they are brought to o
courtroom under anomalous circum-
stances, without custom of mental np-
plication. wholly Unparalleled, put in a
box and two different stories narrated 10
them by opposing counsel. They are
moved by sympathy. swayed by elo-
quence. impressed by special assertion
Of facts and are expected first, last and all
the time to render equal and exact JUS
tice. The absurdity of the thing is evil
dent, the verdict is more matter of
jury than one Of justice and bears more
semblance to lottery than law. Take
twelve men, just as they come in the
census. and you will find one crooked.
grabbed. crossgrained creature in the
bunch. He is sometimes devoid of com
mon honesty, oftener of common sense,
and has constant habit of differing with
everything and everybody. He hangs
the jury, binders justice and makes
nuisance Of himself and a
mockery of the verdict. The majority
has no say. Eleven to one is overwhelm.
ing odds in every case but this. but The
jury want Of unanimity is considered in
compatible with justice and all the ends
Of justice suffer thereby. The folly Of
the matter is illustrated by tho name,
of challenging II man possesses the
remotest shadow of an intellect ant
hears narrated the circumstances of Q
crime he necessarily forms an opinion
but in this nineteenth century of civiliz
alton with papers scattered broadcas,
throughout the land, and the news flash
ing under oceans and across continents
the intelligent juror" 'the bulwark Of
his country's liberties" is supposed to be
deaf and blind and ignorant of notoriou.
facts. Incompetency and stupidity is at
premium and justice is expected from
such material. Again objection may BE-
raised to compulsory service. Unwilling
work is rarely well-done, and the jury
system is standing outrage upon the
rights of citizen. In war. compulsory
oftense or defense is admissible, in peace
compulsory service is not to be defended
save on the ground Of expediency. slav
cry to precedent or an acknowledged
scan'iness of resources. The jury il
Drought together by force. is poorly paid,
Is under legal surveillance, has its indi.
vidual business neglected, is compelled
to take interest in cases where no cause
for interest exists and is subjected to
hardship and oppression. and for what
q sort OF deferential slavery to established
custom and sacred reverence for tradi
tionary precedent. 1t is unnecessary t,
portray the unsatisfactory result of sucl
wretched system. And yet becaus
English Alfred founded it, English la,
recognized aud legalized it. aud becaus
it has become as much part OF GU
social system as the penitentiar
or the gallows, it is perpetuated and sub
m'tted to as something we can't &c
along without. Its merits are not to b
denied. but its faults. flaws, absurditie
ana injustice are as the sun at noon
we are cognizant Of case where pecu
mary interest. mercantile reputation
commercial standing and worldly pros
perity were at stake. and the whole mat
ter decided by an intelligent iurymar
using the incontrovertible argument tha
"he be damned II he wanted to sta,
there any longer, and the matter wa
decided by Q game OF euchre. Common
on that individual case is unnecessar,
II We had case on hand We would pr,
fer three intelligent men to twelve nil
mics; the three woulda certainly be h
best. embodying all the intelligence. an
destitute of the mulish stubbornness {
the Judas that is inevitably found anon
The chosen twelve. You can't make