The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-12-06
THAT IMBROGLIO,

nrop,sea to stand Ivy and defend that error
aaalust ali oomera. and. losing his temper,
rl,ahes into print ~ aaaall tho DEMOCRAT.
charging us with having published n 'dieauo
Of misrepresentation, and speaking Of the
Judge ~ the superior Criminal Court "a
having acted arbitrarily, Illegally and with
great laEEedneaa
Clearly the Recorder IN this inatanoa has
lost that calm judicial frame of mind 90 ahsn
lutely essential III tic consideration of any
legal subject. hut especially 81 one III which
his own conduct asa mpgtatiatn is concerned
Tho Recorder II q public aefyant and IN That
capacity all hia aatjnna ara open 10 public
critcam That ha should sometimes OFT is
not roman \ able. that hn haa erred In the case
under consideration IL certain that he should
anels 60 defend that error is perhaps natural.
but Incorporate language HI magistrate.
whether used IN a newspaper or on the bench.
simply det,neta from hia dianit y and weakens
hia Influence
Lot us examine the charge made againat
tho DEMOCRAT If having marnpreaanted the
facts IT tho caan We aald that the two mon
were arrnstei aud taken before the Recorder.
who refused 90 accept ball and annt them
III once to prianr." This II a statement to
which tho Eeea,dnr takes special exception.
and yat IN hIs communication In tho IYmea he
Gays Almost simultaneously with their mp
pearanca nj the etatinn under arrest. Judge
5Fiaaot and Mr. Lionel Adam applied FIR their
release on ball. 10 which ] replied that was
not then ready ~ arraan tho partica. or 10
bail them Immediately" which rendered.
tat, Hall,
that tho Recorder refused to accept
bail for tho accused which was then and
there formally rendered. and they we're aa-
enrdngiy sont fl prisnn In another part Of
HE defense tho Recorder atataa ~ T,i MOI
deny them hal and there was no such proof
adhnoni ~ The trial" The italics are our
own Now those two statements seem 10
conflict aomewhat violently and ono of them
must bo erroneous. FIT either the accused
were refused hall Ut they were not. and Tho
fact that the mon We're sent TO jail and that II
was necessary 10 secure n writ If hdhfaa
eo,paa to got them ont, inducos la Go accept
tho Recorders fret abatement. Tho facts all
Justify VA III Tint choice. and Mr.. Adam,
when he applied FOR tho writ. alleged That he
had made a formal tender Of Judge I'isaot aa
a hnndaman, but the Recorder had declined
To accept bail This etroctuaily disposes Of
that charge.
The Recorder alludea ~ section "a or the
election law under which "reraona arrested
for disturbances on election day were to be
held until the election was over. and Gays he
was In doubt "a 10 whether II would apply
This IL vory extraordinary admission for q
Io !,
Of the law. to make. The orense
charged. AZ most waa only punishable by six
months imprisonment. and the constitution
Of the State which overridas all atatutoa, and
with which every magistrate should he fami
liar. declared that "all persons shall he hail
ahlo Ivy sufficient auretloa, unlesa fnr capital
whore the proof II evident Or the
presumption great, or unless after convir-
lion for any crime or ofInnae punishable with
Heath Or Imprisonment AZ hard labor. The
privilege of tho writ of hdheds corpus shall
lot 10 suspended Therc was small cause
or doubt or healtaney. II would seem, with
,his clear and explicit command "a guide.
II the ofonae alleged had boon much moro
grave. unless In fact 1t had been a capital Of |
ensn. the recorder was bound, under tho arti- |
'le quoted above. 10 accept bail: he could not
egally besitate about II to such an extent as
o deprive the accused of their lhorty for an
,onr. much less day. for thcre are cases III
which irroparablo injury may he inflicted
~ juat such delaya Give any magistrate
light to hestate In such case. aud to lncar-
'erate tho accused pelsons while he makes
~ his mind. and tho most atroclous wrongs
aould he perretrated. This Is too oIoar for
argument and the refusal OF the bail ten |
letrd hy Tho council OF the accused was a
grave error.
Nor does tho fact that two other afiidavits
we're prepared against tho accused under dlf
erent statute for the Same act alter the COM
,leNion Of the ease. Tho offonse charged was !
inder any and All statutes or circumstances |
'ailahle. and Judge Whitaker. when Informed
# the other ailidavits. very promptly and
properly w decided. Hc acted under tho law
md had he been a party to keeping In prison
non who were clearly entitled 10 bail no
would havo incurred the censure which, in
his case. the Recorder of The Second Reeor-
ler's Court must bear alone Az 10 tho
mount If tho bail accepted by Judge Whita-
Ter SO oach-ani the amount demanded by
TN Recorder $1,000 We may clte the consti- |
ution again.
Art. \. Excessive bail shall not be required
fnas shall not ba imposed nor cruel
tor unusual punishments be inflicted
Unless we arc greatly mistaken, the usual |
'ail demanded by the recorder In cases Of as
ault and battery, the penalty for which is
ne year and $1,000 fine, is from $3.50 to $780, |
nd In cases Of felony. punishable by twenty |
ne years In the Penttentiary the ball fire.
lnent'y does not exceed $500, and yet In this
ase. In which the penalty Is but six months
he demands a bail bond OF
1000.
The point made by the DEMOCRAT that the I
ecorder had not hesitated to act In case In |
vhich he had himself direct personal inter-
ST is not denied but expressly admitted. Tho
Reuse that he had no time to recuse himself
MI send for his assistant will hardly b &C
eptnM rs a justification. There Is no con-