Suwannee Democrat. (Live Oak, Fla.) 1897-current, 1909-04-16
A PLAIN CASE OF LEGISLATIVE
DUTY.

| full, every newspaper in Florida should
aid in the work of keeping this matter
constantly before our lawmakers to the
end that they cannot possibly overlook
it and no excuses can be offered after
the session has ended for having neg
lected it. Governor Gilehrist thought
this matter of so much Importance that
he gave it special emphasis by making
it the subject of his first recommends
ton in his message to the legislature.
Here is what the governor says:
''The Declaration of Rights declares:
No man shall be deprived Of life, lib
erty or property without due process of
law Make due process of law to
embrace the following: No judgment
shall be reversed, or new trial granted
on ground of misdirectiOn of the jury,
or the improper admission of evidence,
or for error in any matter Of pleading,
practice procedure, unless in the Opin-
ion of the appellate court, after exam
nation of the entire cause, it shall af-
Tentatively appear that the error COM
planned Of has resulted in miscarriage
of justice. This rule was adopted by
the English court in 1878. 1t has
worked satisfactorily. 1t has been rec
commended by the American Bar AssO-
citation. The following from Mr.. Taft,
now President, is cOncurred in: No.
Judgment of a court below should be.
reversed except for error, which a
court, reading the entire evidence, can
afirmativelY say would have led to a
different verdict. It should be for the
defeated party to satisfy the appellate
court that the error was really preju-
dicial to him upon the merits. ,"
And there you have it, gentlemen of
the legislature. so plainly and compact
ly presented to you and pressed upon
your consideration by the Governor of
Florida, that the layman can as readily
understand it as the lawyer; and from
the layman's point of view, no excuse
can be made and no excuse should be
accepted for not acting upon this rec
OmmendatiOn Of the governor and ma
king the change endorsed by the Amer
lean Bar Association and long ago adOp-
ted by the English courts.
Every man who has sense enough to
read the newspapers and keep informed
on current events knows that this cOun-
try leads all others that are civilized in
its crime record, and that rapidly IN
creaSing lawleSSness is resulting in
widespread insecurity for life andprOp-
erty that may well make decent people
fearful Of the future and what it has
in store for this murder-ridden land.
We have enacted laws and established
courts to prevent this state Of affairs,
but it is matter of common knowledge
among all classes that in the appica- |
ton of these laws through the machine
ry of the courts, the chances are nearly !
always in favor of the criminal if he
has money enough to employ a good
lawyer and friends enough to talk up
some sentiment for him on the outside. |
ooh, he'll come clear, " is the habitual |
remark heard after every important |
arrest, if only the two conditions of |
money and friends be fulfilled.
We have improved the efficiency of |
nearly every human agency under the
sun for the progress Of civilization and |
the betterment Of man, except the |
most important one-the enforcement |
of the law. Our machinery for that |
purpose stands like prepOSterOuS ana
chrOniSm in this age-a ridiculous and |
cuGlbrouS old medieval device adapted |
to primitive times and people, that |
would be ludicrOuS in its inefieieney |
now if it were not calamitouS, and that |
should long ago have been sent to the
junk heap Of obsolete, wOrnOut and dis |
carded systems. The result is that the |
laws delays and the long list of devices
successfully invoked to enable guilty |
men to evade its penalties, have be-
come intolerable; crime receives no ad- !
equate check, and criminals of themOSt |
dangerous type are multiplying in all
parts of the country.
Among the most hurtful of these
weaknesses in the law is the ease with /
which reverSalS are secured in the ap-
pelate eOurtS-nOt on the merits of the