Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-06
THE JURY SYSTEM.

Evils That Make the Administration OF
Justice neutrality-suspicious. Ex-
cuses and Fines Demoralizing-Majority
yerdicts in Civil Cases Working W ell in
Scotland.
su.. WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPArcH.I
THERE isnothing more unsatisfactory in
the administration of justice than the jury
system in its present condition. The exist
ent evils are twofold, one inherent in the
system itself, and the other in its selection,
the solution OF which presents one of the
most complicated problems with which
legislators and jurists have to deal We
cannot hope to suggest proper solution,
but the recognition of the need and the
possibilities of reform Is one step toward
re formation.
In ancient times it was considered an
honor of the highest character to be in
cluded in the number of those who sat IN the
gate adjusting private differences OIL aveng-
ing public wrongs. This Office was like
patent OF nobility. 1t distinguished a man
among his fellows. 1t was then more
coveted than an honorary office in the most
popular religious POLITICAL or social organ
izations is now. The office has fallen from
its high repute. To-day jury duty is q bur-
den without honorand without recompence.
Many men who like Abou Ben Adhem love
their fellow men and devote their lives TO
their service, would deride the idea that
thus also they could serve. Jury duty is to
be Stunned regardless of the methods en-
ployed in securing immunity. There are
honest and honorable men who refrain from
registering and voting to prevent the en-
rollment of their names on the jury panel,
and others who are equally esteemed do not
hesitate to bribe the petty officials to make
false returns Of absent or not found.
Exemption Productive OF Contempt.
In my judgment one of the principal
reasons for the general contempt into which
the jury service has fallen in our city (for
cannot speak for the country, do not be-
lieve that the same feeling prevails there) is
the principle of exemption. For example
the man vino performs u certain military
service is exempt. This is a distinct induce
ment for our young men to join and con-
tinue in their regiment. For such service
they should be rewarded, but other and bet
ter methods might be devised. They devote
ten times as much time in escaping as in
serving. But the result is an unmitigated
evil. 1t creates a favored class, which OF it
self brings the jury into disrepute: it tails
heavier burden on those who are not ex-
empt, and most serious to contemplate, it
withdraws from this noble institution. the
palladium of the peoples liberties, its most
active and intelligent citizens Exemp-
tions are generally secured by Americans.
The result is that the jury box is largely oc-
eupied by, those who are foreign
born, and it speaks volumes in
standing this there is generally so little
cause of complaint. Nevertheless an in
stance that We recall can be reproduced in
the experience OF many practicing lawyers.
\ German sued an eminent American physi-
clan, and the jury impanneled comprised
one American and l! foreigners. When the
cause was submitted, the American was for
the defendant, but yielded his convictions
to the exigencies of Il wedding feast. Nor is
1t uncommon in criminal cases for the
Judge to condemn the verdict as miscar-
rtage of justice, and in civil cases to direct
the verdict to be set aside before the jury
leave the box: as an eminent Judge in Penn
sylvania said, at takes IL men to steal a
mans farm in this State" This failure is
due not to prejudice or corruption, but to
telligence was not equal to the emergency.
These men had been selected from class
that had not been educated or trained sufi-
GENTLY to reason to proper conclusion in u
complicated case
Fines and Excuses Demoralizing.
THE inferior quality of our juries is due
also to the system of fines and excuses. In
genuity is racked to invent excuses, and
when the roll is called at the beginning of
term and the clerk announces that those
invariably the majority press forward and
pour into the Judges ear the most pathetic
tales imaginable. One, remember, in his
working smock told of a wife and family de-
pending OH him for support, and that his en-
ployer said he would discharge him if he
were absent. On Interrogation he confessed
his employer was his father. Others make
calculation that jury service
will occupy so much time, which is worth to
m. will
be to them substantial financial gain to at
tend to business and pay the fine. In this
favored land industry, intelligence and in
tegrity reap rich rewards, and the men dis
playing these qualities are the men who are
fined.
There is some excuse, or rather has been,
for such conduct in the methods pursued by
some of our judges who never excused the
j Jurors who were in attendance from remain
ing in the court room while case was on
trial. have been told Of a Judge who had
such inordinate vanity that he always de-
sired a crowded court room, and never dis
missed jurors or suitors. Ii business man
were impaneled in such court he might
excusaDly pay his fine.
All the factors above mentioned initiate
against the securing or the best mental re-
suits in the composition of the jury, and
with the possibility OF verdicts that are
on justice. 1t is u winnowing pro-
cess by which intelligence and experience
are eliminated. The wheat is rejected and
the chatf retained.
Majority Rule in Civil Cases.
THE second matter deserving consider
alton relates to the jury itself. The uni
versa1 requisite of the verdict of the jury in
the English system is unanimity. All jurists
agree that this is essential in criminal trials
1t is better that 80 guilty men should escape
than that one innocent person should be
and therefore if one juror con-
believes that the accused is in
nocent or that the evidence of guilt is incon-
elusive and fails to establish guilt, it is
proper that there should be no conviction.
But in civil cases strong sentiment exists
and is increasing, that judgment should be
entered on the verdict of a majority. The
has sbeen tried with excellent
results in Scotland At first the jury must
be unanimous; ii within II certain time such
agreement cannot be reached then the ver-
dict of II may be accepted; a little longer
time, then the verdict of ten, and still
longer time the verdict of nine. In
view of the public expense of a trial it
is an experiment worth trying in this COM
unreasoning juror will glory in preventing
a verdict. If in such a case he knew that
his mulishness only subjected his associates
to brief Incarceration IN the jury room, and
that then they could render verdict with
out his concurrence, he might listen more
tractably to the arguments and reasonings
of his fellows A juror once informed me with
the satisfaction of virtuous and applaud
ing conscience, that in a certain case the
first thing he did on entering the jury room
was to take out his penknive and stick it
into the wooden benches. The others at
tracted by this strange proceeding inquired
its meaning, to which he replied that he was
searching Tor the softest place to sleep, for
he had determined to stay there all night
before he would agree to verdict for one
side His obstinacy rather than his ursu-
ments were rewarded with q verdict for the
side he favored.
Too Many Cases Given to Juries.