The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-01-13

The selection Of the jury in a capital
case On trial in this county the past
week emphasizes a fact that has long
attracted attention. namely. that men
of general intelligence, who keep them
selves informed. of current events, are
practically excluded from juries called
to investigate and decide upon cases
where the gravest offenses against So
ciety are charged against the persons
arraigned. That theory may have been
suited to remote periods when many in
telligent men in communities did not
read -wspap and when the daily
paper was patronized but by compare
lively few people of means. The world
has changed since that time. Four
fifths of the men of average intelligence
now read newspapers, and a large part
Of them read daily papers. Consequent
ly. all these intelligent men are or can
be practically debarred from the most
important jury trials because they keep
in touch with the times and the life of
the people. The citizen who. when sum-
moned for jury service, in answer to In
quiries. says that he has read accounts
Of the crime for alleged participation
In which the accused is on trial and
that the reports which he read and
heard left a vague impression upon his
mind, is set aside. 1t does not matter
that he is a man of high intelligence,
deliberate Judgment and clear conscien-
tiousness: he is rejected because months
before. when the affair was for a few
days the topic Of the town. he had, from
what he had heard, come to some indefi-
mite conclusion as to the participation
Of the accused.
1t was impossible that he should do
otherwise. Every man who possesses
the faculties of sight, hearing and feel
ing absorbs more or less definite i'm
pressions of all occurrences which are
not ordinary. The man who is possessed
of these natural faculties will receive
impressions If he possesses human con-
seriousness, and conclusions are the nat
ural result. Moreover, the man who
sees, hears and reads about the largest
number of affairs is vastly better quail
fled to arrive at intelligent and unbiased
judgments than is the man who sees lit
tie. hears less and reads nothing, and
consequently tenaciously clings to the
first impressions he receives because his
OAAl1h Ai-AAo 40 I'M eSA oiAooSo Ci1o I'LL
cultivated field which receives and nour-
ishes. to the exclusion of the better, the
first seeds of useless or noxious weeds
cast upon it by the winds. The man
who is called upon to form conclusions
daily upon diverse subjects presented to
him in business and in his association
with men of active mind is infinitely
better equipped to weigh conflicting test
| imony and to judge of the credibility Of
| witnesses thar the ISOLATED man, because
he has learned to hear both sides Of
| many matters and to revise hasty
judgments. He is the man who does
not come in contact with the best intel
ligence Of communities who is the VIC
tim of prejudice and who is moved by
personal appeals. He is the man least
fitted to decide upon the merits of testi-
mony whose mind is not quickened and
broadened by that intelligence which
comes of contact with affairs and of be-
ing conversant with the movements Of
the world which must come of reading.
When comparative ignorance of what
is going on in the world ceases to be the
most desirable qualification for jurors
for the trial of capital causes. and when
the inquiries of challengers shall be con-
fined to ascertaining the ~uprightness
and Intelligence of the men on the list.
there will be better results. AT any
rate. If the present system is the best.
the opponents Of public aducAtion have