The Washington herald., 1908-08-20
Swift Justice

{ Swift Justice.
The recent outbreak Of crime Of a Sc
rious nature. murder and rapine and
: theft in all parts Of the country. must
have come near TO convincing most
thouehtful people that something is rad
ioally wrong with our administration OF
criminal laws, that too much protection
is afforded 10 the wrongdoer. II is not
far-fetched 10 imagine that the contin-
uoUs performance Of the wretched Thaw
case. with its exemplIdcation OF what a
brainless waster is able 10 do. with the
aid Of the skilled law-jugglers his money
can command. has been an encourage
ment 10 lawhreakers- It has certainly
been q striking exposition Of the fact
that. though justice is supposed 10 be
meted out 70 rich and poor alike. il is
the rich man who alone is capable Of
taking advantage OF little technical legal
naistakes-which in most cases have little
OF no bearing on the question OF guilt or
innocence-and 50 reap the beneht o.. The
laws delays
Il is plain that, in its technical aspect.
the layman IS practically outside of a
discussion as TO how a reform shan lie
brought about, and il is. therefore. highly
gratifying that the reform promises 10
! come from within The American Bar
Association holds its annual meeting at
Seattle. Wash. on the 18th instant. and
al that meeting there viii be The report
Of committee appointed some time ago
10 ind a remedy for the delay OF justice.
I This committee VIII report. II IS ave-red.
that the present rules should be modified
50 that the rules for deciding appesls
and writs OF errors in criminal and civil
cases should not be based on any tech
nical error committed in the court below.
but should rest upon the merits of the
whole case. as it appears in the record.
Il has been the practice in most courts.
in common law cases. to cons,rue strict
adherence 10 the legal rules as the rieht
ot both parties 10 the suit. and 10 call
ior reversal Of decision II there has
been infraction Of the rules.
This VIII say the committee in IFS
report. makes the trial OF a case a sort
Of game. in which the one wins who
plays the most skufuuy. the real merits
o. the controversy having no part in III I
This is only zoo true, as is the further .
statement Of the committee thar the IN
restricted right 10 a wit OF error in
criminal cases is "a hagranr abuse IN
judicial procedure" Il IS this. more than
anything else. that has made the p-u-
-shment Of rich criminals 50 difficult and
which has cast disrespect on on. courts
and Judiciary.
II IS 70 be hoped that the American Bar
Association viii take heed Of the public
sentiment. which IS strongly on the side
Of reformation Of the abuses which vii Z
be pointed out by the committee. and
The report 20 be submitted 10 the asso-
c-atioE should have the more force thai
II states specifically what was stated in
general terms by NJ Taft in his recent
address 10 the Bar Association OF yf--
ginia. for he. in common with many
other lawyers has felt the need OF q
change. He said on that occasion:
Ile-s are aeundan- evsdslc-s that The --o---,-
ton q ozl1izals has rot 5-sa certain ard t5r-5
30 he point q I-eventing popular protest The ey
-s-e1ce 1t 51chizs IL az Parts cs tae o-az--- fs
directly tracea5ie 70 this lack OF colforni-v and
.Aoro-sLness iu The enforcement Of cur .-s-s-sf
laws
The present IS a tine when al c--- i-s.f--.-s,-.
IRE beng s1aiected % a c-1=e SCRUTINY Wiz ~;.
10 tie dst=-uiua.i-u whether we have ROW t-s5 the
ns'-'sti'ns u7oa vea modern society rests 70 the
7oia- Of proving tAat sazs O: then slo-,d be
-s5i-s-y changed Z
The events Of the last few days have &
given strong point 10 what Mr.. Tart said
and 70 what the committee viii report 70 q
The American Bar Association. Our le-
gal forms were not designed for skilled ,
avvyers 10 play with, but were meant =
.or The protection O. the innocent and =
ne swift punishment Of the guilty. S