Nevada County picayune., 1889-12-18
Away with the Grand Jury.

Away With the GranQ Jury.
 1 "Montana people think they can get along without grand juries, and will try. They have not yet determ- ined what reading matter shall be given to their families in place of the regular grand jury reports. There may be something in /ola or the ntcd States Census Reports that will do."
 | We clip the above from the humor- ous column of the New Orleans Pica- yune, a paper of very great ability. To treat the subject seriously, the Graphic applauds the Montana peo- pie on their idea that they can get along without grand .juries. The grand jury is adapted very we'll for countries of limited monarchy like England and in the time of the rcigns of the tyrant Stuarts, when men were hurled into the dungeon and brought before suppliant judges, tools of the crown, for trial, with the form of written accusation or in- formed of the nature of the charge against them by their peers; the sys- | t..,, taI ta hot ( ety, and whenever it was brought in- to play was protection to the pco- pie against the oppression of the crown. But in Democratic America, where every citizen Is crowned sov ereign and there are no expressions by the government, the value of such an institution does not appear so i'm portant as long as we have the pro- tection of habeas corpus and trial by petit jurics is preserved to us, which latter the "bill of rights" declares ''shall remain forever inviolate. v The grand jury and the petit jury systems were esteemed by our sturdy l Saxon ancestors as incstimable privi- lcges. The grand jury is hallowed by past traditions which have stood the ordeal of criticism. But in this utilitarian age, sentiment yields be-
 fore the prowess of utility, progress and reform. Grand juries are cX- pensiye, cumbersome and useless in- stitutions, and must go tc the wall. | We predict that another decade will wipe it out. It is now used as an engine of political parties, and this was forcibly illustrated by the recent term of the federal court when inno- cent men, to gratify party spleen and malevonence, were dragged from the quiet of their homes to Little Rock to answer ilimsy accusations which 1 had no foundation in truth. They are hot-beds for parties to exercise malice against their neighbors. One of their leading features appears to be to whitewash corrupt officials. The stereotyped reports declare the jail to be regular sanitarium when it reeks with poisonous emanations and ''smells from heaven" The food for the prisoners, in it's delicacy of flavor and exquisiteness of prepara- ton, would excite the envy of Del moncino. The magistrates records are splendid exhibits of model book
 keeping and honesty, when in truth a large per cent of them cannot write their official signatures legibly. The books of all the county officials are in apple-pie order. So interesting are grand jury reports that to sub stitute reading matter for the fam flies in Montana, the Picaynne is a good deal exercised and suggests that "there may be something in Zola or the United States Census Reports that will do. The mode of accusation against law breaker can be easily simpliiied without the use less intervention of grand jury, If i four of grand jury refuse to agree to find a bill it does not go. We have known criminals to have tact, money and influence enough to pare -four friends" on the jury every term of court until the statutes of limitation intervene and bar the offense. Away with the system. .- | [Pine Bluff Graphic.