The Opelousas courier., 1890-03-08
Reform Of the Jury System.

/ "a We are & giant TO see that reform in
! our jury systef is being widely discuss,
ed by our press and people. The Leg
islature cannot Jake hold of the matter
any too soon, FOR the defects of the
present system have been long felt in
all the courts of the State, and our own
local courts lave been no execution to
the rule-some four or FIVE mistrials
having taken place at the present term.
The Ilmes-DemOcrat of last Sunday
published letter from our level headed
fellow citizen, Mr.. 7. H Lewis, 10 which
he endorses the proposition to apply
the provisions of Act No. I16 of 1886 to
criminal cases, SO that nine Jurors can
render verdict. We give below a re-
cent editorial Of that excellent journal
on the subject
Seven centuries ago the English peo-
pie rose to protest against monarcbical
tyranny and misgovernment and
among the rights most strenuonsly in
sisted on by them was that of trial by
jury.
Ever since that day it has been pre-
served IN the bill Of rights of every
State lh fae Union, and of every free
country 10 the world; aud its adyan-
tages and necessities are pretty fully
recognized to this day. At the same
time it must be acknowledged that the
world has progressed since King Johns
time, and that some changes are needed
IN our jury system to meet the changed
condition OF society.
number of miscarriages of Justice,
partial or total, in this COZ ftry have
called attention to the ab.aes of op7
system and@to the necessi' s of rslst
erai oyerbauling. The tplatfth ~ colrPas
proved himself unpleas neWy ap .5picu-
oa5s Gus and las toe freqsatoat qt 10 oadsxaeaned the
der case. Nhafe lsad sgadcsmstj come aia one nsnp Of
the Jnfynen Tesaia@ Tessaaiaa@t 10 an idiotic find
thg tbg Stllel sta. ha nu,ified the efforts Of
eonSsgssael.@sOrs; aud he has frequently
br6aa57St about that absurdity--a com
pfDmise verdict. Where single Jury
man can tie up his eleven fellow mem
hefs, there is a great incentive to
bribery or liking = and it seems to us
that nothing would tend more to check
this than to change our system and
adopt that prevalent in some other
countries, which requires only nine of a
jury to convict. When it stands three
to one for conviction it is more than
reasonable to suppose that the testi-
mony against the prisoner is conclusive.
A more important point, however, is
the personnel OF the jury and it is here
that America suffes~,-h most. Jury fixing
has become an art, Yhich largely de-
feats all our 6osDrts 81 justice. Such
fixing" and bs7srEbE EbEesoast. be punished
IN the seyerest MANNER, and it is for
this reason that we expressed the hope
that the men engaged in corrupting the
CTonin jury will receive the full penal
ty of the law. This, however, viii not
alone suffice. We must do more than
punish the offender. We must secure
good jurors. This can be assured only
by compelling all citizens to perform
this service to the State. It is well
known that nine tenths of onr citizens
never sit on jnries, and that the men
who TINS escape are those who, on ae-
count of their Intelligence, would make
the best jurymen. Let them be sum-
moned, let them serve instead of being
excused, and with the change we have
already spoken of-requiring only nine
jurors for verdict--ouF system will be
brought up to the standard of the day,
and We will no longer hear of the many
misearriages of justice.