St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-06-22

REACHING FOR MORE CASES.
house. For a couple of hours or 20
in the morning the work of examine
ing citations proceeds, the details
varying with the nature of the case.
In the evening ne puts in his best
work on the case in hand, and If 1T IS
an interesting one will probably keep
at it until late hour. Perhaps he
has his secretary read him the cited
passages or the provisions of the law.
or the record of the lower court upon
which the case was argued, while ne
ponders the matter from an easy
chair. This is continued until ne has
absorbed clear ideas of his own or
what ought to be the decision In the
case. All of this, mind you, before
he begins to prepare to write the uiti-
mate decision.
Before any case is argued before
the supreme court the lawyers arc
required to file briefs. fully setting
forth their contentious; and the JUS
tices depend more upon these printed
briefs than they do upon any oral ar
guments which may be made In open
court. The arguments which are de-
livered are always prosy, uninterest-
ing to laymen and devoid OF oratory.
Attorneys confine themselves to citae
tions of law and OF fact, because
there is no jury to influence, ana
thew know that the stern and solemn
justices would quietly resent any at
tempt to affect their judgments with
rhetorical fights or with oratoricai
ordinations for dramatic effect. For
these and many minor reasons no
oratory is ever heard in the supreme
courtroom. Grover Cleveland, Ben]a-
min Harrison and others OF eminence
have been heard there by the writer,
but all of their arguments have been
delivered in q conversational mono
| tone.
Now when the supreme court adj
iourns for term the associate JUS
tees do not go home, nor take trips
to seashore or mountain. On the
contrary, they pack their trunks, not
only with clothing, but with pend
ing cases, and proceed to go on their
circuits and resume their judicial du-
ties in various parts of the republic.
In their capacity as circuit judges
they conduct courts of appeals for
the various circuits, and herein their
duties are onerous as well as of great
responsibility. There are many cases
tried before the courts OF appeals
which are left for final hearings when
the associate justice shall preside. In
the event of dissatisfaction with the
decisions reached under such condi-
lions appeals may be taken to the
supreme court. Here again is tho
burden of responsibility felt. because
the travelling associate justice must
give to each case such consideration
that his decision will be sustained by
the full bench if an appeal shall be
taken. Consequently it is exceeding
" rare that any decision of an asso-
ciate Justice, presiding over circuit
court Of appeals, is ever overruled by
the supreme court. This is a fact
which younger practitioners might do
well to file away in their memories,
for it may save them a great deal Of
time and the waste of much talent
in the future when they have cases
before the circuit courts of appeals
. with associate justices Of the su.
preme court presiding and deciding
: issues OF law and fact.
In these circuit courts there ART
' eases pending in which are involved
= many millions Of property of individ
uals and of states, and also cases in
: volying human life. It needs no elab
!, grafton to demonstrate that thes,
3 cases require careful study; and thel
. remember that there Is q trunk con
r tanning q lot of other important case
4 which must be studied in leisur
: hours. il there ever are any leisur
e hours. The cases in the trunk ar
n for the supreme court, and some o
e the opinions to be reached and writ
n ten can be the result only of exhaust
d i've research. requiring delving an
t study with logic and careful reason
g ine. Some Of these Forthcoming opir
. ions must necessarily be OF grea
+ length, for the supreme court mus
d be intrenched in an impregnable cits
del of precedents and references.
i And SO the days and weeks an
= months go by until the October teri
n begins. Nobody sees any manifest,
\ tons of the work which has bee
Ie in progress, and nobody realizes
r even when the decisions are handle
s. down day after day. SMITH D. FRI.