New-York tribune., 1909-05-23

of the courts could be largely Increased with tbs
present judicial stan-
The lawyer is responsible for the delay in moss
civil cases" said candid New York attorney
He IS sometimes incapable or lazy. wants to
milk his clients. has many cases On his
hands TO treat them all properly Sometimes tbs
responsibility rests with a complaisant judge who
doesn't enforce the reasonable requirements OF
calendar practice and allows all kinds Of adjourn
meuts and delays"
In the Supreme Court the other morning
demurrer cases OF eight adjourned at
the request Of attorneys for periods OF q week
TO ten days. II was predicted by one who knew
that most Of these cases would be adjourned tE1es
more which would bring them within the purvtev
OF q judge the following month. and then tbs
whole process would De repeated for thirty days.
after which the long summer vacation would cause
inevitable pOstpOnement until fall Half a hun
dred cases up 10 ten years OF age recently came
up before justice. and were put over to January,
1871 About the number OF divorcs cases
were treated more summarily by another tustics.
who ordered them stricken from the calendar
Some divorce lawyers make it a practice, II -
said. never to bring undefended divorce actions
trial. so that they continue TO extract fees
and mythical expenses from their women clients
typical instance of delay IS found In the record
of what may be called Smith against smith After
issue had been joined March -. 1901. ths case
placed on the following May calendar. 10 vas
moved to the following October. then shifted to
May, 1895 II got on the day calendar on May 2.
and successfully postponed on May 2, Is. S
and %. \ couple Of postponenents in June brought
the 10 the calendar on October 8 After
this the dates were October T. 1S IS IS. %, 2. q
&c and p. on October % the case was marked 70
hold its position. which sounds like dry sesal
jest bat means that IL actually marking tInis
for the finish Being placed the day calendar
for November 2 4. 5 and 9. the case did CONS to
trial the last named date.
The Jury calendar OF the Supreme Court has q
years. ana has never been moved for trial It 10
put the calendar every years without
extra to the Iitigant. who paid a g fee at tbs
beginning or the case. The oldest action on the
calendar dates back 70 May i. 1S72 and is a rail-
road damage suit After resting quietly for q
quarter OF a century. the case was called on Feb
ruary 14. 1896. but neither side wanted 10 try it so
quickly and il was marked reserved which is
its present condition at the ripe Of thiFy-seveu
years The plaintiff and the lawyers involved have
probably passed 10 their reward by this time But
the case still lives and seems hearty enough to
survive into the next century. Compared with
this case suit against the Mayor OF New York
dating from 1857 is recent episode. The Federal
Circuit Court for this district can show nothing
more mature than the suit OF a private detsetivs
against government detective. dating from E9s-
Appeals in both civil and criminal cases ars q
rich source OF delay. The fact that only a BEnafI
percentage OF appeals is successful has nothing 10
do with the general result Last year ths Suprsna
Court chiefly in the county OF New York. consid-
cred 129 applications for writs os haheas corpus
and certiorari granting nineteen OF the applica~
tions. There were "a appeals 70 General Sessions
from city magistrates convictions. and about half
were upheld, mainly because no stsnoSraphic
minutes Of the trial were taken" The Supreme
Court considered thirty-nine applications for cer-
tiicates Of reasonable doubt. and granted ten
Almost every defendant applies for eeTthcats
OF reasonable doubt Immediately after conviction.
in the hope Of being at large bail pending sp-
peal" reports Assistant District Attorney Taylor
In cases Of murder IN the first degree. notice OF
an appeal acts automatically a stay. The Mel
son case Ia which notice Of appeal was served on
April &C. 1906. Is cited abuse OF the process.
for no action taken 10 argue the appeal for
nearly a year. The Court Of Appeals denounced
the delay as a disgrace TO the administration OF
Justice and rebuked and removed counsel who
were responsible It and substituted other coun-
sell" There twenty-five appeals IN nrst oe-
gree murder cases during 19o2-'oS and the time
taken by the Court OF Appeals in considering
these cases varied from i've months 70 tnrS-
eight months Only two OF the appe&ls wes
granted The Appellate Division in 1905 consiassec
eighty-nins appeals, OF which four vsrs gTsass9
and tvsnty-rins dsntsssA