The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1903-10-20
THREE BOYS
PARDONED
CovernorNash Released
Youthful Criminals
From Penlte ntiary
JUDGES IGNORE LAW
Send Prisoners to Penitentiary
lnste a d 'of TO Mansfield
Reformatary.
Special to News-Democrat.

Special to News-Democrat.
Columbus, O., Oct 17.-Governor
Nash sent for the three boys from To-
ledo, serving seven years sentences for
burglary in Fairmount county yester-
day afternoon, and after a talk with
them in tho presence of the mothers of
two of them and Warden Hershey,
granted them pardons in accordance
with the recommendation of the state
pardon board. The boys were over
joyed and left for their homes in To-
ledo at 7:15 p. m. The names under
which they were in the state prison
were Harry Elmore, William Howard
and Harry Reed. These are said to be
assumed The report OF the pardon
board to the governor states that the
boys ran away from home in spirit
of adventure, and took up the life of
tramps. At Thurston, being in need
of shoes and clothing, they broke into
a store and took what they wanted
and. were caught. Determined not to
reveal the identity of their families,
they gave evasive answers to Judge
and what they were doing at Thurston.
This so exasperated the judge that he
gave them the severe sentences, and
though they were plainly minors, sent
them to the state prison, instead of the
Mansfield reformatory.
They had served six months in the
state prison before it was found out
that they were from Toledo. Then they
opened correspondence with their pa
rents, and soon good lawyers were
working for their release. But they
have never yet revealed the names of |
their families.
JUDGES IGNORE LAW.
The courts of the state are still ig- |
noring the law which requires them to
send first offenders to the state reform
atory at Mansfield. Almost every day
prisoners are received at the state
prison here, who, by the facts ELECTED
at their admission, belong to the class
for which the Mansfield institution was
established
Why the courts do this is not un-
derstood here It used to be supposed |
that the sheriffs influenced the judges
against the reformatory for the reason !
that the law provided that when a
prisoner was sentenced to the reforma-
was notified and he sent guard to +
take the prisoner from the county Jail |
to the prison. The sheriff did not get |
his transportation fees.
To obviate this the law was changed J
so that the sheriffs now take prisoners |
to Mansfield, just as they do the Co
lumbus prison, and yet the courts will
not follow the directions of the law in |
regard to this matter
STILL ANOTHER.
Some of the common pleas judges |
of the state are not as familiar with
the recent statutes of the state as they |
ought to be. AS result of this /
number of prisoners now being COM |
mitted to the state prison are likely to
secure their release through appeals to
the courts.
The amendment to the law of bur-
glary made by the present legislature,
which makes the punishment for en-
tering an inhabited building in the |
night season, Imprisonment from 20 |
years to life, also changed the law so |
as to make the minimum sentence for |
entering any other kind of building |
five years. In spite of this, burglars |
are being received right along at the |
state prison under sentences of two and |
three years,
Secretary c. b. Shook of the board |
of managers said yesterday when |
speaking of it that they were receiv-
ed and kept as though the sentences |
were correctly imposed. "We will take
any one that comes with a proper nit
timus, and when the specified term is |
concluded, will let them out 1t is not |
our business to examine the sentences |
to see that they are legally made, but
this is fact, nevertheless"
II Is question whether the prison.
ers could be given another sentence in |
case those under which they have
been sent up are wrong.
Tn Acvl llNA