Amador ledger., 1905-11-17
A Serious Problem.


with serious problem in the cost
which criminal prosecutions entail
As general proposition. it may be
said that crime must be prosecuted
through established legal channels,
no matter at what cost. To lay
down any other rule would lead to
anarchy and mob law. 1t is the fear
of punishment that causes the wicked,
vicious elements to curb in measure
their criminal propenslties. Even
this fear is not equal to the suppress
sion of crime. Crime is rampant
because perpetrators hope to escape
detection, or if detected, to escape
punishment through the intricacies
and technicalities of law. Law abid-
ing citizens-those who deprecate
any so called protection of society
outside the pale of established law
realize that the judicial methods
have become oppressive upon them
from a financial standpoint Of late
years the cost of criminal trials has
been outrageously augmented. The
fact stares US in the face that if this
condition of affairs continues, it will
actually become too expensive to
punish wrong doers by "due process
of law" To punish otherwise means
anarchy; to prosecute legally threat
ems financial ruin; failure to punish
crime would give the criminal eIe-
ment free hand, and tend to our
social dlsintegration. The burden
some condition into which our laws
have degenerated has received signal
illustrations of late in Amador
county. lake the Staples case for
instance. 1t cost from $1,000 to $4,000
at rough estimate to convict that
defendant. Even this sum, almost
prohibitory in a county like Amador,
is often exceeded many times in the
large cities and wealthler com
munities. The unfortunate part of it
is that this expense-burdensom
though it be-was not entailed by
extravagant methods in the conduct
of the trial. 1t was unavoidable.
The costs were necessarily entailed
through the recognised forms of law.
The curious feature is that after
going to all this expense-amounting
to nearly 81 per head for the entire
population of the county the public
is then called upon to spend large
sums in the eff ort to undo the work
of The jury and the court. The cost
OF appeal falls upon the public
treasury just the same as the cost of
the trial. The printing of the tran
scripts alone amounted to about $500,
and the county treasury had to foot
the bill. We are not saying aught
against the appeal in this case, but
the absurdity of system that piles
up expense both ways-in doing, and
undoing thing placing the burden
at both ends on the same shoulders.
True, defendants rights are as
sacred as those of the people. Still
there is something radically wrong
where laws are so framed with
continually ascending grade in the
prosecution of evil doers. A few
trials year like the Staples and
Murphy cases, would place ANA
dor in queer streets from financial
point of view.
Alpine county furnishes striking
example of this INABILITY or disincIin
alton if you please-to meet the re-
quirements of the the law in criminal
trials. That little struggling county
is being censured because of the out
come in the Badaracca case-accept-
ing plea of mansIaughter for what
is regarded from all the accounts
that have reached US of the Pendola
homicide, as a cold blooded murder.
1t is very easy for far-off critics to
blameAlpine authorities They cannot
view the situation as the people of
that county we're compelled to view
1t. They had to reckon the cost; and
it appeared so staggering as to
threaten grave difficulties to their
people. They concluded it was better
to concede great deal than to incur
the uncertainties and financial ruin
which hotly contested trial would
have entaiIed.
A simplification of our criminal
laws as regards expense is one of the
crying needs.