The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1891-09-28
TRIAL BY JURY.


mon sentiment against jury trials.
The main grounds for the want of
OF confidence in the jury system
which many persons entertain may
thus be stated Most jurors are
utterly unfamiliar with law terms
and rules of weighing evidence,
and are likely to misunderstood or
misapply the rules of law laid down
for their guidance by the Court.
The average jury is almost sure to
have some members who are biased
on the one or the other side of
the controversy. The facility with
which persons are acquitted on
criminal charges often leads to the
inference that either the jury did
not understand the case or were in
different to their responsibility. On
the other hand, educated lawyers
occupying the responsible position
OF judges are more likely than are
inexperienced jurors to be free
from bias, interest or prejudice, and
more likely to give the proper
weight to evidence, and to dis
tlnguish correctly between evil
dence which is material, relevant
and competent, and that which IS
immateriaI, irrelevant or incom-
petent.
Everyone who is familiar with
jury trials knows that all this is
true. But it would be unwise, for
these reasons, to discard jury trials.
The jury system is, to begin with,
q prominent feature in a repre-
sentative form of government
among English speaking people.
Ii the people have an actj- part to
take in the administration of JUS
tice and decline to perform their
duty, either by avoiding jury duty
or giving lax attention to it, they
have themselves to blame. 1t is
worth good deal to a community
to have something to growl at with
comparative immunity. One of |
Napoleon's maxims was to let SOL
dlers grumble. Few care to risk
their interests by indulging Gf there
should ever be cause for it, in COM
plants against decisions of judges. |
But jurymen mingle with the COM
munity, and are sure to be made
targets for criticism if they stray |
WIDE from the mark.
Popular justice may not always |
be of the ideal sort, but it answers
for everyday needs. AS for acquit-
tails of accused persons, if the
trained lawyers who conduct the
public prosecutions, cannot obtain
convictions, especially in Hawaii,
when verdict of nine out of the
twelve jurors can be given, it is
extremely likely that they have
failed to get together evidence to
justify conviction.
Judges have large powers in
stating the rules of law which
govern o jury case, as we'll as in
the large class of cases which
come within the jurisdiction of
equity and do not admit of trial by
jury. If in addition to equity
cases and to controlling and direct
ing the law in jury cases, the
judges were to have the sole and
exclusive power of deciding upon
the evidence and finding the facts
in civil and criminal matters, their
human fallibility would soon bring
results which would tend to bring
into even undeserved disfavor and
disrespect the exercise of their
judicial functions. Such q result
would weaken the hold which law
has, and ought to have, upon every
respectable community, and would
be of itself great misfortune.
Judges ought not to be brought
into unnecessary conflict with So
cial interests. The chances are
great also, that the best of men
will sometimes use uncontrolled
power unwiseIy and unfairly.
While judges are arbiters of much
hat vitality affects the welfare of
he community, to make the same
men both judge and jury would be
20 create a despotism or legal
tyranny which would be unendur-
bile, besides seriously hindering
of legitimate judicial fune- ]
ions.