Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-11-12
Petit ,yUrieS.

The MORNING NEWS contained an artl-
Gle a few days ago on the duties and re-
sponsibilities of grand jurors. There is
reason 10 believe that it met with general
approval. 1t may not be amiss to say
word about the duties and responsibilities
Of petit Jurors, which have almost as
much to do with the well-being of society
as those of grand jurors. 1t is to be re-
GREETED that so many good citizens shirk
these responsibilities and duties. one
can daily hear criticisms upon the way
the law is administered, and complaints
about the failure to punish criminals.
The officers of the law-the Judges, the
solicitors. and the lawyers-cOme in for
all the abuse, and the juries are said to
be stupid or yenal, After all
who are legally exempted, which are by
far too many. and the sick are excused,
the lawyer when he faces the panel is
struck almost speechless by the crowd
he has to enlighten with the law and the
facts. He thinks of Judge DOoly's oft
quoted saving that "Only God Almighty
can tell how a petit jury will decide"
To have the benefit of good laws there
must he good men to administer them,
and under our system that duty is largely
with the iuries. Every citizen should
feel it a privilege TO occasionally share in
this important part of free government.
The qualifications of petit jurors are
the same under the laws Of Georgia as
those Of grand jurors, and their duties
are of no less Importance. They should be
selected by lot from the most intelligent,
upright and experienced citizens of the
several counties. They are sworn to "well
and truly try the causes submitted to
them. and a true verdict to give accord
ing to the evidence" The grand jury has
its peculiar province-that Of putting
the machinery Of the law in operation so
as to conserve the interests of the COM
munity. and cause the arrest and trial of
violators of the law Their work, how
ever. will be in vain unless the trials
should be had before intelligent and up
right petit Jurors. The many important
questions to be passed on and nice dis
examinations to be made concerning the
credibility and effect Of conflicting evil
dence. require the exercise of great sense
of justice and Judgment. Few ordinary
men are equal to this task, and the great
defect in our jury system is that often the
very best qualified men are either eX-
empted by the law or get excused b. the
presiding Judge. No wonder then that
men should hold trial by jury in fear when
important interests are involved.
The serving as a juror is not pleasant
duty to perform, but it is one that should
not be shrked by the true citizen. If
every good man would cheerfully serve
when drawn without reference to eXemp-
tions or trivial excuses, the turn of each
individual would not come Oftener than
once i'm two or three years. This surely
would not be a very great hardship. 1t
would be more than compensated by the
higher character and dignity that would
be conferred on trial by jury, and the con-
fidence the people would feel in having
crime punished and civil cases decided on
principles of Justice. The labOrs of Judges
would be ightened and rendered more
satisfactory, and the courts would soon
attain the position they properly should
occupy as the protector of the innocent,
the terror of the guilty, the defender of the
right and the avenger Of the wrong.