The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-05-11
THE DAILY
THE METHOD OF CHOOSING JURIES.

Having referred once or twice
lately to the lack of sound discre-
ton occasionally shown in the selec
ton Of persons to serve as jurors, il
seems proper that we should explain
the process by which the selections
are actually made under the present
law.
Twice in each year the clerk OF
the Supreme Court prepares two
lists of fifty names each; one of Ha
waiians and the other of Foreigners
These lists are subject to the APP
proval of one of the judges, who is
usually but not necessarily, the
Judge who is to hold the next
trial term. These lists hav-
ing been thus prepared and
approved, constitute the material
from which juries are to be drawn
for the ensuing six months. There
being four regular terms in each
year, namely, in January, April,
July and October, it follows, OF
course, that the persons whose names
are on the lists, are liable for service
through two terms.
AS for the care to be used and the
discretion exercised in making ont
and scrutinizing these lists, but lit
tie need be added to what has been
said on former occasions. What is
needed is somewhat more of careful
ness in regard to tho antecedents,
habits and general reputation of the
persons chosen. If a man Is a nOtO-
rious liar or blackguard, or so bitter
a partisan as to be presumably
incapable of acting fairly, these facts
should be known to either the clerk
or the Judge, and in community of
the size and composition of ours,
there is no valid excuse for those
officials not knowing them. A some
what higher standard as to the
mental and moral qualifications
needed in the jury box, as we'll as
diligence and care in securing the
same, might be, apparently, cult
waited to advantage.
If existing conditions are in any
way unfavorable to the easy securing
of good juries, there are, as we in
timated the other day, certain practi-
cal advantages which are more than
compensatory. If the population is
small, it is so much the easier for
judges and clerks to know all that
need be known about the men from
whom they are to make their selec-
tions. Any defects Of personal
knowledge in this respect can he
corrected by means of proper investi-
CATION, easily and readily made On
the other hand, while the communi-
ty is small enough to make the nee
essary knowledge of individual char
acter and qualification entirely prac
tlcable, 1t Is quite large enough to
allow liberal discretion in making
selections, and to effectually dispose
of any pretense that it is ever nee
essary to put up with poor material
on the ground of there being such
a limited supply to choose from.
There are between thirty five hun
dred and four thousand voters in
this district, and only one hundred
names to be put on the jury list for
each six months. Surely there is
ample margin here for rejecting all
bad or questionable material, and
that too without imposing un
reasonable burdens upon a few,
or compelling any one man to serve
often enough to give just ground for
complaint. But to accomplish these
results, there must be system.
At the opening of each term, there
are drawn by lot from each of the
above desert bed lists-one native
and one foreign-twenty four names.