The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1898-01-22
FOR ORDER IN THE COURT.
A Protest Against Dramatic
tions In TRIALS by Jury.

A Protest Against Dramatic DemOnses
tions Il Trials ~ Jury.
There is a practice the universal
prevalence Of which in our existing
trials by jury makes justice a misno'
mer. It is a practice whose evils, SC
far as I can discover, have never been
commented upon, or even appreciated,
by the press, public or individuals.
refer 10 the whole method by which,
right or wrong, innocence or guilt Is
sought to be proved by the counsel on
either side.
Assume, for instance, a criminal case
Tor the same method is applied,
though usually to a lesser degree, to
civil contests. Beginning with the
opening arraignment by the prosecu-
tion, thence through the examination
and cross examination Of the witnesses,
the display Of exhibits, On to the very
end of the final ~harangues of the oppos-
ing counsel, the dramatic is never lost
sight of.
The emotions. not the intelligence, Of
the jurors are appealed to throughout.
In a typical murder case which re-
Gently gratifed the morbidly sensational
element of the entire country the dis
tIict attorney arose iinpresslyeIy,
glanced about him onlinously and then,
with a TREMENDOUSLY tragic voice, proceed
ed to arraign the accused, charging him
outright with the crime, practically as
suming without doubt that he was
guilty and e~ndtavoring by the use OF
every vile of the orators art to sway
the jury to his mode of thinking. And
this before the minutost bit Of evidence
had been taken.
Is ~eloquence a proper adjunct to orr
Jurisprudence?
Hereto though | may he, | hold en-
phatically and with qualification that it
IS not. 1t has no place in a hall of jus
tice, where, we are led to believe, tho
truth and only the truth is to tie brought
ont. Eloqpence, as manifested by ora
tory, is inimieal to truth, which can
only be discovered and established ~
calm, unprejudiced and dispassionato
Investigation.
Eloquence appeals to the emotions,
and It's victories arc obtained by trick
ery-the trickery of masterful verbiage
playing upon sensitive but unreasoning
ears.
Ihe claim that came be justified be-
fore the reason cannot be valid. Flo
qrence is the weapon CT falsity. Truth
L right do not require its use. The
sphere OF ~eloqueuce is the stage. In the
pulpit, before the bar of justice and i'll
the hall Of legislation it is a source of
unlimited evil.
l hold that for the accomplishment
Of justice all the theatric displays, all
elcquence, all excitants to the emotions.
should be banished from our courts of
law by sentiment if not by regulation.
They have no place there.
Judicial procedure should be along
the lines similar to the investigation Of
scientific propositions and discoveries.
The establishment Of right or wrong,
guilt or innocence, is something to be
effected by cold, prosaic, rigid inquiry,
by step, as analogous as may be TO
mathematical demonstration.
We shall have to wait long for the
when this is recognized, but it will
be In the indefinite future, and when
time does come we may be more
that our courts Of justice are
ID something more than name.-
Criterion.