Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-11-30
CHANGE OF FRONT.

The decision of Judge Zane in t he cit,
prosecution cases for lewd conduct, ha.
given rise to many and various comments
We believe Judge Zane decided accord
ing to what he deemed the law to be
and that he SO decided because he thought
it the law, and for no other reason. Ap.
parently. others do not think so. The
Herald, of yesterday moning, in COM
menting on the decision, used the follow
ing language in regard to Judge Zane:
And we have hoped that he was not a
cantlng hypocrite, but person who enter
tanned real horror of sexual sins and ma
fltal 1ncontlnence. We certainly did not be-
lleye that after all his professions, after all
that he had said and done, he would have
| the brazen effrontery, the bold inconsist-
ency to stand before the community as the
protector of the lecher and harlot, the de-
fender of the adulterer and the shield of the
prostitute.
Does Judge Zane 80 stand? That the
ordinance under which the prosecutions
were brought was not sufficient to cover
the cases brought under it, is sincerely to
be regretted, and that there should be
ample provision made for that class of
cases no one with any proper instincts
can doubt; but did the Court render its
decision for the purpose OF becoming
1.-The defender of the adulterer and the
shield of the prostitute ?" Itwas charged
by some that the city brought these pros.
ecutlons for the purpose of blackening
the characters of men who were active
in the enforcement OF the Edmunds law.
or who were known to be hostile to the
institution of polygamy The Herald of
November %, in commenting on these
accusations, said:
The friends of the men who are under ar
rest for alleged lewd and lascivious conduct. !
ana the suspects" generally say that this |
movement is not in the interest of morality. |
but Is purely retaliatory. No one has any
right to say this, for so far the police officers
nave not gone outside their sworn duty; |
they have simply made the arrests, and have
not been given an opportunity to prove
the charges.
Should notthe same indulgence be given
to Judge Zane that the Herald asked for
the police? 1t seems to US it should. Ii
his decision were wrong, was it wrong
honestly or was it wrong corruptly? In
answering this question, the inn
oortant element of intent comes in.
md according to whether that intent was
honest or dishonest must Judge Zane be
acquitted or condemned on the Herald
'harges. Has not the Herald changed
ront on the question OF motive which ac-
yates sworn officers? =
In Its comments on the decision the .
Herald also had this:
HIS honors reasoning and language in .
ms opinion are not marked by the clear
less chararterlzlng most of his decisions.
teadlng the opinion one gains the impres-
ION that the writer set out to reach n con- :
fusion by course of reasoning and fail
ng with his reasons, reached the conclusion
nevertheless.
We have heard this opinion of His
ionor's decision expressed by others,
nd this opinion, or one very like it, is =
ntertained by a very large proportion of
he bar, and We understand it is shared
Y the attorneys who conducted the city's
de of the case. But all these seem to
link that the reasoning of His Honor