Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1876-04-20


its.decisions q. Judicial farce, and caused It
to fall into popular contempt. From "a
general want of confidence In this Court,
a large proportion of the canses have
found their way to the Supreme Court,
and thus haVe oVerN helmed It also.a sT9a
To mature q system that viii secure
stability, learning and efficiency in the
courts; command public conhdence and
respect; relieve existing, and prevent
future bloekades; and Of such hexibility
as to be readily adapted to the7exigencies
Of business, was the aim and effort Of the
Convention. This, it was believed, could
be done by creating an independent tri-
bnnal ibfertnediate between the Common /.
Pleas and Supreme Courts; lengthening
the eiudicial tenure 50 az to give IL greater
stability, and to offer an inducementfor
legal learning to accept II; requiring
semi-anHuai siitings of GireHit Courts in
each county; providing commission 20
disposss Of the accumulated business Of I
the Supreme Court; andsstarting the SR-
prene Court upon q new calendar. z5i2
Accordingly, il is proposed that the 4
State be divided into twelve Common I
Pleas DISTRICTS; that the fortysix Common /
Pleas Judges provided for be distributed (
70 fhese districts and the subdivisions /
\ thereof, according to their necessities;
that the judicial service Of each district
be- eq1iIably appoFtioned 1among the /
Judges therein; that qnafterly terms Of
this Conrt be held IN every county; and
that each Judge be required 20 annually
/ perform two hundred and forty days
labor, unless The business assigned to him
be sooner disposed of.
It is further proposed that the General
Assembly shall provide by law for supply
ing the place Of any Judge who may be
Temporarily unable to attend to his du-
ties; and in emergencies a Judge OF one
district may be transferred fora time to
aid IN another. The force thus provided,
if faithful to It's official trust, and the peO-
pie elect competent men, will be ample
to discharge all the business brought into
the courts, with pronptness and delIbera-
tion, 50 that the delay of causes will be pre-
vented the attendance of witnesses from
term 20 term, at ruinous costs, avoided,
and speedy justice done Without denial or
delay. vel asf- nc- .s.s.sl i,..s15s
It Is proposed to divide the State into
seven circuits, in each of which there
shall be Circuit Court, to consist of three
, Judges, two Of whom shall be. a quorum;
and that semi-annuaI terms thereof shall
be held in each county. Il shall have
: stjurisdietion. TO review and correct the
findings and Judgments of the Common
Pleas and other inferior courts. With a
wide scope of territory from which to Sc
lect competent Judges, with a power in
the General Assembly to diminish or aug
ment the capacity of this Court according
to necessity, and with length of official
term guaranteeing reasonable stability, it
is believed that the Circuit Court may be-
come in ali respects, except in authority,
q the equal of the eSupreme Court, and COM
mand such confidence and respect as to
: satisfy most 7litigants and prevent them
from further prosecuting their controver-
sies-thus relieving themselves from a
. great additional expense, and the Su-
! preme Court from an excessive ace1mula-
tion of causes. The Circuit Judges may
8 serve in any part of the State; and as any
II twOofg them.Will form alquorHmg twill
( be seen. ithat ten of these courts might be
! held at the Slime time If necessary. 49,
The Supreme Court remains unchanged,
! except that the official term Of the Judges
/ is extended to ten Years. Atthe first cleo
q, ton it is proyided that no elector shall
! vote for more than three of the i've Judges
: of this Court. This method of election
! was applied in New York In the choice OF
! the Court of Appeals, and is conceded to
: have worked we'll Each Of the great po-
\ liticai parties is certain. to elect portion
: of the Judges, and viii therefore be re-
: sponsible for their character, integrity ane
, ability. It is supposed that a better elasl
: of nominations will thus be secured, thl
2 Court divested of any appearance Of po
= litical bias, and its decisions command ;
more general and hearty confidence.
y The schedule submits to a separate vot
7. Of the people, under the title s PROPOSE
IS tion number one Minority Representa-
~ ~ tion," an additional section, By which,
4 A adopted, this method of election by tn
e restricted vote will be made per manentl
~ - applicable to all elections of Judges of tn
~ Supreme and Circuit courts for "a ful
g term; so that each elector can thereafte
'e- vote for but three Of the five Judges {
1.-THE Supreme Court, and two of the thFe
Of Judges. of q Circuit Court, If this sectio
ed Be adopted, the majority party IN any ci
ia cult will generally elect two, and the N
a. lnority party one, of the Judges for thi
ke circuit while the majority party in, Il
50, State will generally elect threeg and Il
est minority party two, of the Judges Of Il
10 Supreme Court--so that the bench
70 EACH of these Courts will thereafter
his composed Of lawyers selected from bol
ap- the great parties, 'gd sto7. r. l.si
Ter, Vacancies on the bench of the Supren
~. OF. Circuit Court will be filled by appoir
ust ment until the next biennial eIeotio
the Judges be adopted by the people, such '
ost cancies will be filled for the atRe1pired ter
the otherwise, for the fall teTES 81
anu @ Until the General Assembly shall 9th,
- - wise provides, the salary of the SupreI
Judges is temporarily fixed at five tho
80 sand dollars. In. learning and genel
= of ability, these Judges ought to occupy t
Z first rank. It can hardly, be expecte
-. however, that men of this character W
s5s sacrifice the remunerative practice
80 49,, their profession for q position on the S
~. preme Bench at salary which scarce
- - pays their expenses, They must rems
Ne. ~ at the Capital nearly the entire ye
10 - where the cost of living has largely |
i - vanced. Their families must be suppor
y ~. ~ and educated. When they shall hs
,Iat , ceased to serve the State they ought
49, to be thrown pennies upon the world
~. VIZ begin professional life anew, and dep'
sOf upon regaining tie business they sacrif
A. to serve it. w bile in Office they are
a.aS ..,9 bidden to engage. in any, other empl
ny ment they ought therefore, to be reas
!. ~ ably rewarded, 50 that something shall
;: 'ieSe main to them when age and infrn
Vlhs shall come upon them, But the WI
. u matter Is within the power of the Gene
Assembly, which may, at its first sessi
reduce the salary if it see proper.
The business Of the supreme CoHrl
SSaL = ~ at least four years in arrear. 1t would
e"s" unwise to overwhelm The new Court
- :. casting this accumulation upon it.
" A;S - commission is therefore provided to c
Gls.,l ~ the docket. See. )s II is also pro
me me ed (Sec. 81 that q. like commission ma
,out7 : r. constituted in the future, but not oft
J ~ than once in ten years, and thus rel
~ against recurrence of blockade "
Tn. In out invoking 8 convention.
,tual Alarming complaintslof official ez
cans ton in the Offices Of some of the Pro
over Judges and Common Pleas Clerks re-
vote ed The Convention. Believing that
has change Wonld beycOnduclve to ofnclal