Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-04-20
SUPREME COURT DECISIONS.

| A great many people throughout the
country seem to think that cases which
come before the supreme court are di-
vided among the different judges, and
that the opinion rendered by this judge
is the bases of the courts decree. JUS
tice Harlan of the United States Su-
| preme court at recent banquet in
Cincinnati, Ohio, gave the following in
teresting account of the method pur-
sued by that body in deciding cases be-
| fore it.
"In my intercourse with the men,
bers of the bar have found, to my
great surprise, that the impression pre-
walls with some that cases, after being
submitted, are divided among the
judges, and that the court bases its
judgment in each one wholly upon the
report made by some one judge to
whom that case has been assigned for
examination and report. / have met
with lawyers who actually believed
that the opinion was written before
the case was decided in conference,
and that the only member of the court
who fully examined the record and
briefs was the one who prepared the
opinion.
1t ismy duty to say that the business
in our court is not conducted in any
such mode. Each justice is furnished
with a printed copy of the record and
with a copy of each brief filed, and each
one examines the records and briefs at
his chamber before the case is taken
up for consideration. The cases are
thoroughly discussed i'm conference
the discussion in some being necessarily
more extended than in others. The
discussion being concluded-and it is
never concluded until each member of
the court has said all that he desires
to say-the roll is called, and each
justice present and participating in the
decision votes to affirm, reverse, or
modify as his examination and retiec-
ton suggest The chief justice, after
the conference, and without consult
ing his brethren, distributes the cases
so decided for opinions. No justice
knows, at the time he votes in par
ticular case, that he will be asked to
become the organ of the court in that
case; nor does any member of the court
ask that a particular case be assigned
to him.
The next step is the preparation of
the opinion by the justice to whom it
has been assigned. The opinion, when
prepared, is privately printed and a
copy placed in the hands of each men,
ber of the court for examination and
criticism. 1t is examined by each JUS
tice and returned to the author, with
such criticisms and objections as are
deemed necessary. If these objections
are of serious kind, affecting the
general trend of the opinion, the writer
calls the attention of the justices to
them, that they may be passed upon.
The author adopts such suggestions of
mere form as meet his views. If OBJ
jections are made to which the writer
does not agree, they are considered i'm
conference, and are sustained or over
ruled as the majority may determine.
The opinion is reprinted so as to ex-
press the final conclusions of the court,
and is then filed
Thus, you will observe, not only is
| the utmost care taken to make the
opinion express the views of the court,
but that the final judgement rests, in
every case decided, upon the exami-
nation by each member of the court of
the record and briefs. Let me say that
during my entire service in the Su-
preme Court have not known a single
instance in which the court has de-
termined a case merely upon the report
of one or more justices as to what was
contained in the record, and as towhat
questions were properly presented by it.
When you find an opinion of the court
on file and published, the profession
has the right to take it as expressing
the deliberate views of the court, based
upon careful examination of the
records and briefs by each justice par
ticipating in the judgment"
THE state of Iowa will get out its
new code. 1t will furnish the annota-
tions and will have them copyrighted.
II