The Mena star. (Mena, Ark.) 1898-1904, 1898-08-31
DUTY OFLAWYERS.

~e~'@'e-taH up bAC S9Uo%o AOt VIZ AA
merous lynchings throughout the
state, the Camden Beacon says: THE
lax administration of justice. the laws
delay and the uncertainty of punish
ment is the cause of lynch law,
other is corrected" And that seems
the state.
The Beacon puts it this way:
There is no class ia the community
so responsible for the exercise of lynch
law as the lawyers themselves A
criminal is taken in hand. There is
neither legal nor moral doubt as
to his guilt. His lawyer gets contin-
uance, as long as the trick will work.
Then comes the inevitable change of
venue TO some county least accessible
to the witnesses, and another con-
tinuance or two worked up. If by
chance, conviction ensues there is a
new trial to fall back upon. If this
does not work, there is the supreme
court of appeal. If there is no re-
versal or demanding by this court and
the gallows or states prison begins to
assume tangible form, there is the ten
der-hearted judge, the tender-hearted
jury, and the tender-hearted citizen,
ready TO sign petition to the tender
hearted governor, and the faithful
attorney, likewise tender hearted and
possessed of pull. takes it up and the
trick is turned. and the criminal is
free to renew his war upon society.
and by his success incite others to the
same evil course.
The people of Clarendon and Monroe
county are no better and no worse
than the people of any other town or
county in the state.
Having ascertained the cause, can t
we find remedy? A great response
bility rests upon the legal fraternity.
The courts and their officers, mainly,
are responsible for these lynchings.
That seems to be the overwhelming
judgement of the people. Being true,
upon the intelligent class falls the
duty of Suggesting a remedy. They
owe it not to themselves, but to socie-
ty. The complaint against our present
system of administering justice is aptly
stated above by the Beacon. Let the
legal fraternity go to work and see if
we cannot frame a system of court
procedure by which lin all criminal
prosecutions the accused shall enjoy
speedy and public trial" to use the
language of the constitution. Can't
there be less continuance, less changes
of venue, better class of juries, and
less reversals of the verdicts of the
latter by superior courts? These ideas
are merely suggestive. 1t is the duty
of the lawyers of the state to vIndicate
themselves and rescue the common
wealth from the foul stain that now
rests upon it.-Arkansas Gazette.
The people can do much to help
the lawyers perform the duty
deyolving upon them as outlined
above. We would not place a
straw in the way of any criminal
receiving a fair and impartial
trial, but when lawyer, for the
sake of a fee, or because of his
ambitious desire to win a case,
takes advantage of a mere tech
nicality or resorts to any dishon-
orable or questionable methods to
help criminal escape the just t
penalty of a violated law, the peo-
pie instead of praising him for be-
ing "sharp" should treat him as
being unworthy public confidence
and but little better than the
criminal he seeks to turn loose
upon society. Any lawyer who
will resort to methods known to
be practiced in nearly every court,
or Judge who will sanction such
methods, encourages the violation
of the law on the part of criminals
and the organization of mobs
among the people to commit muir
der. In fact such lawyers and
judges cannot and should not be
considered as good citizens.