St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-23
THE GRAND JURY SYSTEM.

together with the reporters especially
assigned to work around the county
building, have been summoned to teS-
tify as to the methods they employ to
get record of the proceedings of this
presumably secret body, and threats
are made that the guilty parties will be
made to suffer.
This Is not new experience, either
in Chicago OF any other city where the
proceedings Of grand juries are of sutfi-
cient Importance to warrant the effort
necessary to procure them. ANY bright
reporter can obtain a good epitome of
all that transpires behind the locked
and guarded doors, and this is habitu-
ally done, notably in Chicago. There
never yet was grand jury so consti-
tuted as to defy the inquisitiveness of
prying newspaper men, and there never
will be such jury impaneled. And it
Is we'll that this is the case. The grand
jury system is grossly out of place in a
free government. 1t is secret inquisi-
ton into the character OF citizens which
leaves them helpless to defend them =
selves against the libelous assaults of
their enemies. Any one. no matter how
irresponsible, can file an information
against an honorable citizen. The ac-
cuser is heard fully, but the accused is
not called to testify, and fire quently is
wholly Ignorant of the fact that he Is
charged with crime till an officer APP
pears with a capias for his arrest. In
no
foundation for the accusation, and that
it was either inspired by malice OF de-
sire to eXtort blackmail. The Injustice
wrought is griev0uS, but it is not so
much the fault OF the grand j ury as of
the system that debars them from the
privilege of listening to both sides Of
the controversy. 90
1t is one of the cardinal principles of
our Jurisprudence that no man shall be
condemned without full trial before a
jury of his peers, and that he shall have
the privilege of Offering testimony in
his own behalf. While an indictment
by a grand jury is not. technically. a
condemnation, it amounts TO as much
in effect, for it places the accused in
the position of criminal in the eyes OF
the world and prejudices his case before
the petit jury that finally adJudicates it.
For the natural presumption is that an
indictment would not be found unless
there were convincing evidence to
sustain it. But even the purest of men
may commit acts which, unexplained,
will appear criminal in the eyes of a
secret tribunal. but which would be
Invested of ali such semblance if eX-
planned bv the party most concerned,
and would appear not only strictly
honest, but eommendable. No court
testimony, and yet all of our courts cast
cloud upon the reputation of no nor
able men by that means-a singular and
ineXplicable Inconsistency.
In several of the states of the Union
the grand jury system has been abol-
ished, and in all cases with beneficial
effects. In these states the prosecuting
attorney files an information in open
court against person accused of crime.
giving the names of the accusers and
the witnesses. The case is then heard
before petit jury and determined upon
its merits. One effect of this system is
to bar from the courts nearly all prose
cutions Instituted through malice OF a
desire to eXtort blackmall. 1t gives the
accused fair chance with his accuser,
enabling him to know the exact nature
of the 0tfenSe with which he is charged
and the men who accuse him, and gives
him an opportunity to prepare his de-
Tense Systematically and fully. 1t gives
him no looph0le Of escape if he is guilty
that is not afforded under the existing
system, but shields him from the attacks
Of towards who dare not make their
charges openly.
Many of our best and ableSt jurists
are united in the opirion that the grand
jury system is an unmixed evil. 1t does
not further the ends of justice in even Il
remote degree. The only thing that
can be said in its favor is that the
secrecy that surrounds its proceedings
sometimes prevents criminals from
learning that their evil deeds are
known and undergoing inquiry. But it
is far better that ten guilty men should
escape than that one innocent person
should suffer the grave Injustice of
being branded as a felon without the
opportunity to defend himself.
In exposing the secrets of the grand
Jury room the Chicago newspapers are
doing public service. By demonstrate
ing that it is impossible to maintain
secrecy they will bring the public to a
realizing sense of the dangers to per-
sonal liberty and individual reputation
that are Inherent Ill the system, and
this will ultimately lead to its abolition.