The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-06-18
nortance ana tremendous import to the peo-

of the appellate Court interprets the laws
and renders all judgments OF those Courts
affecting life, liberty, and property. Should
the President or other executive officer, OF
! Justice of the Supreme Court be impeached
of high crimes, he would be tried by the
Senate, !. majority of two-thirdS Of which
/ body can convict him: and so likewise with
| the executive and judicial officers OF the
States Yet it requires the unanimous ver-
| dict of twelve jurors TO convict d thlet on
| acQuit an innocent man.
\ majority Of the Supreme Court OF the
| United States can pass upon life, liberty, or
property of the citizen, and SO does a ma
lority CT the Supreme Appellate Courts OF
the several States Why then should una
nimity be essential 10 the verdict OF jury?
I DEFY any cne to assign valid reason why
majority of the Judges Of the Supreme
Court should prevail, whilst n majority Of
twelve Judges Of fact should not II twelve
| Judges of fact must unanimously agree then
so should the nine judges Of law be unanl-
nous in their findings and conclusions. 10
apply such q rule to the nine Justices fthe
Supreme Court of the United States would
| be preposterous, but not more 50 than to
enforce unanimity in verdlcts OF twelve
| judges of facts.
IN behalf of our Jurors, and in the inter
est of the cause Of justice, l advocate the
abolition of the rule of unanimity, at least
| in all civil cases, and in misdemeanors and
the lighter felonieS. Our juries are COM
posed largely Of the best men of the commu-
nitv. men well reared and accustomed to the
comforts and luxuries of life. The hard
ships to which they are exposed in doing
Jury duty are very great, and often danger
ous to health and life After sitting for
hours, and some times days, through long,
tedious, and intricate trial in an uncOmfort-
able Court room, they are shut up in . cold,
cheerless, and poorly ventilated room, of
small compass without fire. food or beds,
and there kept in q furnishing condition,
| day and night, in the vain effort to convince
one or two stubborn men who Will not listen
| to reason and who, perhaps, preJudGed the
case in advance of evidence and argument.
In these daily struggles in the juIy room, OF
muscle and prejudice against brain and rea-
son, good and true men have been known to
become ruined in health, resulting some
times in the loss Of life Not unfrequently
these struggles, under duress of imprison-
ment in the Jury room, result in the victory
Of the minority, over the majority and the
dark triumph of wrong over right, and fire.
queutly result in mistrials, at the expense OF
the people aud denial of justice.
The consequence is that the men ofprop-
erty and the practiced business men of the
community, by means of this delay and un-
certainty in the result of trials by jury,
have been driven from the Courts, and Sc
lect boards Of aroitrators rs their preferred
tribunals where a majority rules, or are
4 Vi TO - ,,rlfrA Eia IN
satisfactory verlictS, the delay and COSTS OF
which are often tantamount to 4 defeat by
the winning party, and are Overwhelmingly
ruinous to the losing litigant.
Among the Intelligent and well-to-do
classes Of onr people there is q growing
aversion to our Courts, and increasing want
of confidence in the result Of the trials.
civil and criminal.
The Jurors are not responsible for this.
They are rs honest and as honorable us our
jurors ever We're; but the fault is IN the emas-
culated system of trials before Courts greatly
weakened BY constitutional restrictions and
Legislative enactmentS. The laws dlsarm
and covenant breaker. The one is muzzled,
while the other can utter his falsehoods
trumpet-toned in the ears of an unalded
and helpless jury. The mouth Of theJudse
is sealed against condemnation OF wrong,
and exposure Of sophistry and perjury,
whilst the tongue of the guilty accused IS
free to utter falsehoods and thereby to es-
cape do not condemn the right OF the
accused to testify in his own behalf, although
it is fruitful and alarming source Of PERU
~; but do condemn the law that so weak
ems our Courts as to render them unable to
thwart this evil, and to foil the criminal IN
his studied effort to impose upon the jury
by ways that are dark and tricks that should
| be vain
fffhiis rnle Vi uaunlmity renders consulta-
! ton IN the jury room so tedious, protracted,
onerons, and disagreeable that good and
true intelligent and competent men are
averse to the service, and resort often to
subterfuges to avoid the duty and to escape
the hardships On grand juries they will
ingly serve, but on petit juries with reluc-
tance.
1t very often happens that juries after re-
firing for deiiberation are forced to abolish
the rule of unanimity and agree that fixed
majority shall rule, and at times settle dis
putes by drawing lots or casting up "headS
and tails, or by having each jnror to put in
his estimate of the damages to be found,
and from the sum total strike an average by
dividing by twelve.
Verdicts reached by these hapil.zarti ways
are entitled to rs much respect rs t&oSe eN-
tortej by ,iuress Of imprisonment.
All that have said has been inspired
by reading Il very able article on this sub
ject by the Hon. Henry c. Caldwell, United
States District Judge in Arkansas, publish
! ell in American Law Review for November
and December A. D. 1888. IN concluding
his article he says Of tuis rule uuanimity:
The rnle encourages crime: 1t is tue
hope Of the guilty, and the trust Of dishon-
est and litigiouS suitorS; II obstrncts and de-
lays justice; it multiplies lawyers fees and
burdens suitorS with costs and the citizen
with taxes; it dngrades and dishonors the
citizen by treating him worse than the felon
he is called on to try; it makes jury service
diSagreeable aud dangerous; it often ena-
! bles criminals in cities where that class
abounds to escape conviction by smuggling
one of their number on the jury; it is an
incentive to bribery and corruption; it is a
fertile source of false verdictS and relic Of
barhariSm and superstition that ong&t to be
abolished
In an able article 1y the Hon H. p.
Brown, of Detroit, Mich, on Judicial inde-
pendence, published III the American Law
Review for September and October, A. D..
1889, lie remarks III conclusion: ''In civil
cases. both in Old and New England, trial
by jury seems by 4 kind of common consent
to be falling into diSuSe 4 step. which
regard as 4 very decided one in advance, has
| been taken in two or three States by abolish
ing the rule OF unanimity and permitting 4
verdict by the consent OF nine This will
obviate & vast number OF disagreements 10y
eliminating the man who has been ap-
preached, and the man Of oblique percep-
tions to be found upon almost every jury,
who can never see thingsas others see them. "
In a letter to him, Julg" Sab!n, Of the
Federal Court Of Nevada, remarks: 81 have
had several years experience in Nevada,
while at the Bar, OF the practical working