The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-18

lynching and providing that the punish
ment shall be Imprisonment for lie or the
death penalty, as the jury may ueleIIInne.
The bill virtually defines a new crime.
There is no law exactly like II IN force IN
any State. There are fifteen states with
laws providing that damages may be re-
and three providing for damages TO De re-
covered by relatives or administrators Oh
men killed by mob violence. Instead OF pro-
viding. that damages may be recovered by
the widow and children of men lyncned IN
this State the attorney general mixes an ar
bitrary penalty which they may recover.
When it comes to a question OF damages II
would lie with a jury TO declde Just now
much pecuniary harm had been done the
widow and orphans of the lynched man in
his taking off This would involve the TAX
ing into consideration the past standlng OF
the man, his ability TO earn, etc. Inc pen
atty fixed which the heirs may recover is
Section l of the new acts defines a mob"
as being amy collection of individuals as
sembed for any unlawful purpose intend
ing, to injure any person by violence and
without authority of law. Any act Of
violence exercised by such mob upon the
body of any person which shall cause the
death Of such person , shall e4nstitute the
person who participates in aids or abets
SUCH lynching shall suffer ueath or be i'm
prisoned in the State Prison during life,
in the discretion of the jury"
The next section provides that whoever
harbors any guilty person after the crime
has been committed, with the intent that
he shall escape detention, arrest, capture
or punishment shall be deemed to be an ac-
cessory after the fact" Such accessory, it
is provided, may be punished, though the
person harbored escape, and the punish
ment shall be Imprisonment in the State
Prison for not more than tWenty-one nor
less than two years Section provides that
prosecution of principals or accessories may
be by indictment or by information, filed
and signed by the prosecuting attorney or
attorney general, based upon the affidavit OF
some competent and reputable person"
This last provision does away with the
0eCeSSltV of grand action. In the KID
ley county lynchng case no indictments
were returned, and it was said that lynch
erS We're themselves members OF the grand
jury or had relatives on it. Then follows a
section providing that any personal repre-
titled TO recover of the county in which the
lynching occurred the sum OF $1,000 as the
penalty for such unlawful killing. The
penalty clause goes farther and provides
that any innocent third person suffering
death at the hands of a mob unlawfully
engaged in lynching shall come under its
provisions and his representatives may re-
cover from the county as representatives of
lynched persons. This affords a sort of in
surance on the lives of SheriffS and others
who may attempt to thwart mobs. There is
a provision that if there is no next of kin,
widow or child to inherit penalties recov-
cred the money shall go to the common
school fund When judgment is recovered
against county that county may recoup
from the members of the mob by civil ac-
another county, or where a mob comes into
a county from another to lynch person in
us poTuers' the county IN WIllcn the lyHcHluS
occurs may recover the penalty from the
county in which the mob originated The
purchasing of ropes, weapons or other in
struments to be used in lynching is made
a continuous offense from it's inception, and
the county is given jurisdiction over such
persons, who may be prosecuted in such
county and punished for murder, the same
as if the ynching had occurred therein
If any officer permits person to be taken
from his hands and the person is lynched,
it is fixed being prima facia evidence of
neglect of, the officer to do his duty, and it
is made the duty of the prosecuting attorney
and attorney general to at once institute
impeachment proceedings against such Off
Ger. There is an emergency clause providing
for the immediate taking effect of the act.