Birmingham state herald., 1896-02-12
REPORT OF GRAND JURY Legislative Remedy Suggested
 for Sundry Extortions. COUNTY BOOKS ALL RIGHT Mrs, Caldwell Gets Verdic! Finding Her F Sound in Mind-SeveraI Criminal
 Court Convictions.

The grand jury returned a number of true bills yesterday afternoon, but it was not deemed prudent to publish names, as none of the parties were under arrest.
 After submitting the following reports to Judge Greene the jury was discharged The State of Alabama, Jefferson County
 Criminal Court of Jefferson County.
 January Term, 1896.
 To the Hon. Samuel E. Greene. Judge of
 the Criminal Court of Jefferson County:
 We the grand jury, empaneled at the present term of the criminal court, here with at the completion of our labors, submit our final report:
 The grand jury was empaneled on the 9th day of January, held a session of two weeks and adjourned until the Sd day of February, since when we have been in continuous session, with the exception of the 10th day of February.
 We have investigated 1S4 cases, exam ined about 600 witnesses, and as a result have found IA true bills, of which seven- ty-five are for felonies and thirty-nine are for misdemeanors. This is very much smaller number of true bills than is usual ly found at the January terms of this court but of these larger number than usual are for murder and robbery We attribute the smallness of the number found to the fact that the last grand jury did not adjourn until the middle of No vember, and to the further fact that we have found indictments in only such cases as the testimony established the guilt of the parties indicted to our com plete satisfaction.
 In some misdemeanorS we have also exercised that discretion which the law gives to grand juries In such cases. and we have ignored charges reported by ir- responsible parties and charges made in anOnymOuS communications.
 We find that the police court of Bir- mingham, by reason of its enlarged juris- diction materially lessens the number of cases tried in the criminal court; but we find that the exclusive jurisdiction which it exercises in all misdemeanors in pre- cincts 21 and 37 severely embarrasses the prosecution of crime and the adminiS- tration of justice. This is especially true because of the fact that the grand jury cannot indict persons guilty of offenses such as gaming and violating Sunday laws, which rarely come to light in any other way than by the investigation of a grand jury
 We have visited the county jail and find it in generally good condition; in fact, about as good as could be expected considering the number and character of it's inmates. We find that there are a great many openings in the building, and we think some provision should be made to put iron shutters on these openings, as, Tn our JuuSHleHt IL Wuulu duu very much both to the comfort and safety of the building. We also findthat the light ing facilities in the basement of the jail are entirely inadequate. and we suggest and earnestly recommend that sufficient lights be placed there to light the base ment We find the food sufficient in quantity and quality. sa
 Numerous complaints have been made to us of extortions in various forms prac- ticed by different corporations and indi- viduals engaged in different kinds of con tracting in this district. such as exact ing house rent. when the facts show that the employee charged house rent did not live in one of the company's houses; charging monthly doctors fee and then making special or extra charge for phy- sician's services in cases where attend ance of physician is actually required. and charging insurance and not paying employee who is a victim of an accident; ; also charging prices for goods that. com pared with the prices charged by other merchants. looks like robbery. We are advised that under the present law there is no statute authorizing a criminal ac-