The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-11-20
Jurors and Capital Punishment.

Jurors and Capital Punishment.
In the course of an address to the
jury in a certain muroer case on trial
at Rochester, N. Y, the district attor-
ney of Monroe county commented
pointedly the other day on the dispo-
sition of many citizens to avoid SER
vice as jurors in murder cases, He is
quoted in the Democrat and Chronicle
to the effect that Jurors were not re-
sponsihle fer the making or interpreta-
tion of the laws; that their duty began
and ended with careful and unbiased
Weighing of the evidence. He is fur
ther quoted as follows: when / listen
to men say that they have this preju-
dice and that prejudice, l stand and
look at them. Has man IL right to
avoid the duties Of citizenship because
he holds & theoretical opinion? Suppose
one Of the men who sat here and was
examined for this jury awoke at night
and found a burglar in his house, and,
to escape. the intruder shot to death
his wife or child, what would he say
if l refused, as district attorney, to
prosecute the murderer? He would say
| was unfit for the office. But / would
! be no mere unfit than man who ques-
| tiOns the law. 1t is a result of the de-
sire to escape duty on the jury or to
| parley with a sentiment that is danger
Gus to the safety of any community"
| Upon the understanding that these
remarks were intended to apply to
| those citizens summoned for jury duty
| who claim to have conscientious scru-
| pies against becoming parties to a con-
viction involving the death penalty, the
| Democrat and Chronicle edtorally
takes issue against them, saying;
The improprety and folly Of requiring
a citizen who has deliberately and intel
| ligently reached the conclusion that the
! state has no right to take human life.
| to serve as a juror in a murder case,
| have been recognized by the courts
! as well as by the public. A person
| honestly holding that conviction should
manfullY maintain it in the court room
| as well as elsewhere. The fact that a ma
! jOrity of tue legislature and the governor
! thought otherwise would be no warrant
| for an attempt on the part of any court
| to force him to become party to what
| he regards as an official homicide If
| he does not believe in capital punishment,
| and is asked to state his position on the
| question, there Is but one answer for
| him to make. He must say NO" 1t
! is not necessary in this connection to
| discuss the ethics or the eXpedency of
| capital punishment. The fact stands
| ttha large, and. we believe, an in
! Creasng number of citizens not only
are opposed to it, but refuse to have any
| responsibility for the application of that
|
| Among those who hold these convictions
are many whose standing as men and
citizens cannot be inpeachcd. In cases of
| this character they have a right to de-
mand that their scruplcs shall be respect
ed, as they invariably are by the courts.
OF course it is also obvious to counsel
for the state in the prosecution of capt.
| tai cases that they cannot afford to aC-
! Cept as Jurors citizens who would have
to stifle their convictions to bring in a
verdict for the state. They may be told
| that they are not responsible for the
penalty, that all they have to pass upon
is the question of guilt or innocence;
| but that will not satisfy a man who be-
| lieves if he should bring in a verdict
of guilty he would be consgninE a fellow
man to a fate which, in his judgment.
| it is not within the jurisdiction of any
! human tribunal to inflict
1t is unlikely that discussion Of these
points will alter any mans convictions
with reference to them; but we must
say that the citizen who asks to be
excused from service as a juror be-
cause of his disbelief in the Justice OF
capital punishment, yet who pays
taxes for the purchase of rope and the
building of scaffOlds, is inconsistent
The duty to pay taxes is not a greater
duty than the duty to serve when sum-
moned as a judge of evidence. Ir
neither case is the responsibility upor
the individual citizen for the manner
in which the law applies the taxes ol
the jury verdict to the punishment OF
the convicted murderer. The opponent
of the death penalty cleanses his skirts
of moral accountability when he ex,
hausts the reasonable means within
his power to convert to his view 6
majority of his fellow citizens ant
thereby to change the legislation of his
state. When he permits his scruple!
to carry him beyond this line he i.
guilty of trespass upon the rights o.
Others of Sinking his duty as a part
ner in the commonwealth; and instead
of being applauded he should be con
demned.