The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-04-17
BAR ASSOCIATION
WOULD AMEND LAWS
COUNTY ATTORNEY PLAN WILL
BE ADVOCATED.
Lawyers Claim That District Attorney
System is Very Unsatisfactory
Other Important Criminal Statutes
Are Being Suggested.

JACKSON, Miss, April 1.-THE
Mississippi Bar Association will make
determined effort to secure the adop-
ton by the next legislative session of
the many important constitutional and
statutatory changes suggesed in COM
mittee reports to be submitted to the
West Point convention next month.
According to members of the Jack
son bar, who are influential in the
work of the association, the reports
of the standing committees will be
adopted practically without dissent,
and ways and means will be devised to
bring the suggestions forcibly to the
attention of the legislature. And, in
view of the fact that the standing
committees have as their members
some of the most prominent members
of the legislature, among them being
State Senator w. D. Anderson, State
Senator G. j. Leftwich, Representa-
tive H. M. Quin, and others who hold
important legislative chairmanships,
confidence is felt that all of the pro-
posed measures will secure considera-
tion of favorable character.
The changes proposed in the sys-
tenn of criminal Jurisprudence involve
legislation that hsa been agitated for
a number of years, but without favor
able action. With the members of the
Mississippi bar solidly behind the sug-
gestions, there is good ground for the
hope that majority of them, at least,
will be enacted into law, especially
the suggestion that the office of coun-
ty prosecutor be created, the official to
look after all prosecutions of felonies
in the magistrates courts, habeas cor
pus trials, ETC., and to collect the ev-
idence to be submitted to the grand
jury, and have it in proper array when
felony cases are called for trial.
Under Mississippi's present district
attorney system, where one prose-
cutor is required to look after the
criminal matters in from five to twelve
counties, the defense has decided ad
vantage, being able to get its evidence
in array often to get desirable wit
nesses out of the jurisdiction of the
court, and the prosecution is compell-
ed to prepare its cases in a makeshift
local prosecutor in this county the
number and nature of prosecutions for
violations of the criminal statutes
would be greatly improved.
Other criminal statutes of far-reach-
ing Importance suggested involve the
abolition of common law forms OF in
dictments, making the carrying of q
pistol, or the manufacture or sale of
such weapons a felony, and to pro-
vide that special venires for criminal
cases must be drawn from jury boxes
in adjacent counties in order to re-
move such trials as far as possible
from local influences. The latter sys-
TEN prevails in Virginia, and number
of other states, and has worked with
much success. 1t is, in fact, the old
English Common law.
The recommendation for three court
terms in each county, in order that
justice may be more speedily admins
tered, and the other changes proposed
in judicial administration and remedial
procedure will be no doubt meet with
cordial public approval for the slow
ness of the courts is recognized as
one of the greatest defects of Missis-
sippi's present system of jurisprudence
both civil and criminal.
nNJnU VITUUU