The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1904-08-26
JURORS SHOULD BE READERS.
DIsqualifyine Jurors Because OF Intelli-
rence 1soina- ont OF Prnrfico


genee, tsoing Dat OF practices.
Judge Shelton lives in Macon, No,
and believes that jurors should be in
teIligent, weIl-informed men, and read
ers. At a recent murder trial in his
court, an attorney attempted to disqual-
ify a juror becouse he was a newspaper
reader and had read an account of the
killing. This same objection might
have been urged against nearly every
man summoned for jury service, but
Judge Shelton throttled the move In its
inciPiency.
Judge Geiger, of Oberlin, Kan, be
fore whom was held the trial of the
Berry killers, was more tolerant and
long-sufering in allowing the objections
of defendants attorneys to prevail in
disqualifying jurors. Dewey's attor-
neys worked their pet scheme out of all /
reason when Judge Geiger ended the
farce by declaring the reading Of the
killing in newspapers was not sufficient /
grounds for DISQUALIFICATION. Hesaid: |
81 want to say that the time, if not
here, viii be very soon when a newsPa-
per report alone viii not disqualify a |
man to sit as a juror IN any criminal
case. If II does, It viii drive Us to those
who are less intelligent because they do
not take the newspapers of the country,
and are not therefore well informed on
current events. 1t deprives the country
Of their use and service as jurors, and
Kansas takes a step backward when it
takes that position, and is not up with
its reputation of leading instead of fol-
towing. The mere fact that the opinion
as to various isolated facts is based up
on the newspaper report and the an
swer is given inteIligently by the juror,
understanding the force and effect of it,
ought not to disqualifY him. The
challenge is overruled."
The Missouri judge is equally as sane
on this point, and he says:
The mastery of thought comes from
reading, observation and study. A man
who does not take enough interest in
the affairs of everyday life to read a
newspaper, would not be a safe man
where the issues of life and death, or
extensive property interests are at stake.
He would not be capable of attaching
the proper significance to the words de-
tailed from the witness chair, nor could
he comprehend the instructions given
by the court. The non-reader is hardly
a good citizen, and he could not on any
/ hypothesis be considered a good jury
man.
"Of course the alleged objection to
the newspaper reader is that he may
have read something concerning the
case that might bias his judgement.
Ny observation has been that newspa-
Pers, as a rule, give far more accu-
rate account of a homicide than springs
from neighborhOOd gossip. Such Oc-
currences are necessarily talked about
in a community, and sometimes the
widest reports gain credence. To cor
rect the exageratious and give the par
ties a fair standing before the bar of
public opinion is the real mission of the
newspaper, and it does not strike me as
a very rePrehensible one IF the rePor-
ter's work is honestly performed what
has the defendant % fear?
| "a little investigation generally shows
that there is little foundation for the
many Tumors that follow a tragedy.
The newspapers, when they recite ru-
mOrs, especially state that they are
such, and the reader thereby knows
the proper weight to give them. To bar
the newspaper reader from jury service
would practically tie up the law courts,
and turn the administration of justice
over to those of too limited an education
| to know what justice MEANS