St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1884-03-08
Faults Of Jurles.

4 That there is widespread dissatisfac
tion with the weak or wicked verdict
so often rendered by the jury of the da,
is proof that the decadence of the iur,
is not the reflection of decadence O
the popular sense of justice. The trou
ble is that the system has grown awry
1t has become warped by the pressure o
some of the circumstances OF its envi
ronment. The talk of throwing away
the jury is as foolish as the Verdicti
which provoke criticism and irritation
| What is needed is reform and a read
justment of its forces to the conditions
of modern life.
Some practical observations of grea1
value were made on this subject in Z
recent number of the American Law
Review by Judge Deadly, OF Oregon
| The jnry, as he points out, is an insti.
tuition that has survived the vicissitudes
OF centuries, and must be considered
therefore, to be in accord with the ge-
MUS OF the people who have kept it up
lt sustains the courts by uniting the
people with the judge. The faultfind-
Ings which now assail the courts are
but zephyr to the whirlwind that would
overcome them if this popular element
were wanting to them, and the deci-
slOns and sentences were those of
| judges alone.
In an interesting and rapid sketch of
the evolution and early history Of the
jury Judge Deadly is able to show that
the more important deteriorations of the
jury system are traceable to departures
from Its early procedure. The require
ment that the verdict should be unani-
nous, which is so easily used by jury
hxers to bar the course of justice, is a
modern innovation. VerdIcts used to
be given by the majority. Several in
stances are related in which obstinate
Jurors who sought to obstruct the agree
nent OF their fellow-mem bers were
fined and even imprisoned by the court
Majority rule is the custom OF the coun-
try In politics, sand corporation rule,
and society, aud Judge Deady strongly
urges that we return to it as to the orig
maj and proper course, at least in civil
cases, and in criminal cases where the
ottense charged is belOwthe grade Of a
felony.
Peremptory challenges of persons of
fered as Jurors We're never allowed in
the early days of jury trials. That
man was not tit to sit on a jury because
ne mad formed and intelligent opinion
as TO Ghe case was an idea unknown to
the common law. Until the seven
teenth century jurors were sought for
their ability to decide On their knowl-
edge and belief. The modern practice
makes the jury consist Of either natural
or pretended ignoramuses QriginalIY
Jurors were men who were summoned
because they were good and true men
OF the VlcInage, who were acquainted
with the facts on which the case to be
tried was to turn. Our rulers not only
exclude every one who has learned any
Ching about the facts, but admit those
who there is every reason to believe are
utterly incapable OF learning about
them. Intelligent people, such as we
pride ourselves on being, should not
tolerate such an absurdity.
lhe necessity the judges are now put
nnder or making their charges to the
jury IN writing, and of abstaining from
ali comment on the facts, Judge Deady |
thinks, have an unfortunate effect on |
the jury system. The first purpose of |
these rules was to prevent the Judges |
exercising too much pressure on the |
men in the jury-box by virtue of his
reponderant knowledge and towering |
position. But, as he points out, the |
same modern life and culture that les
sen the likelihood of unaninity reduce
the mental distance between the judge
and the jury. The chances that a judge
could OveraWe a jury are very much |
lessened by the social progress of recent
centuries, and there is not now the rea-
son there was for depriving the jury of
the views OF the judge as to the facts,
nor for Imposing on him the rigid imi-
tatiOns of d written opinion.
The responsibility for the miscar-
riages OF our juries rests in the long run
on the public. "a people," our writer
says, "Who have not virtue or intelli-
gence enough to enable them to get
Twelve good men into a jury and
provided wise aud honest justice who
can be trusted without a gag or fetter
20 conduct the trial of a cause with them
may as well admit their inability to
maintain this high grade of procedure
md sabm1t to some other rule in which
Justice is administered for and upon
hem but not by and with them."-
Chicago Tribune.