Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-11-30
The LAWS DEFECTS

There is no nation in Europe, out
side Of Russia and the Balkan penin-
sula, whose criminal laws are so in
effective as those of the United
States"
This is statement made by Will
liam Dudley Foulke of Indiana in an
article on THE Trouble With the
Criminal Law The great bulk OF the
guilty, he declares, go scot free, and
those who are punished are punished
lnadequately, after long delays and
enormous expense both to the state
and individual. The reason, he says,
is because the law throws so many
safeguards around life and liberty,
leaves open so many avenues of es-
cape, the meshes of the net are so
huge, that it is nothing but a very
large Or clumsy game that ever gets
entangled in them. Some of the tech
nicalities through which the guilty.
frequently escape are summarized by
Mr.. Foulke as follows:
First-Every link in the chain Of
evidence much prove the defendants
guilt beyond all reasonable doubt, and
twelve men must concur in having
such doubt. If a single juror has
doubt of this kind which he cannot
overcome, there can be no conviction.
Second. No man accused of crime
can be required to furnish any evil
dence of guilt against himself, No in
quiry can be legally made of him. He
is protected by the right to remain
silent, and, no matter how clearly an
examination would prove the crime.
no such examination can be made. lest
he should become confused and fur
nish evidence of crime he had never
committed
Third. Certain Irregularities in the
grand jury room which could MOI
possibly affect the merits of the actual
trial are often allowed, not only to
delay the course of Justice, but to re-
verse proper conviction: and infor-
mallties in the Indictment. which do
not in the least mislead the accused
or deprive him Of his just right 10
know what he is charged with, often
prevent trial Or reverse a conyic-
ton.
Fourth. Trifing errors in the adj
mission or rejection of evidence, or in
the charge of the court, or the behav-
lor Of the court or prosecutor, will de-
feat a conviction, although even the
court which reverses it may be salts
fed that justice has been done. The
assumption by the judge in his charge
that certain facts are proved, facts,
perhaps, that nobody ever thought Of
denying, is often ground for reversal.
Fifth. The defendant is not allow
ed to waive certain of his rights, his
right for instance, to be tried by
twelve iurymen, and even il he con
sent to the absence of one of them.
and is convicted by eleven, this Will
reverse the cese in many states
Sixth. The provision that no man
shall be tried twice for the same Of
Tense results in liberating men who
are mis-tried. The failure of a Jury
to agree produces no such result, yet
should the jury be corrupted. or should
the court enormously charge that no
crime existed the defendant is free
forever no matter how great the mis-
take. The result is that, appeals be-
ing always taken by the prisoner and
never by the state, the tendency of
tie decisions of the appellate court is
bound to be more and more in favor
Of the criminal. Where a decision is
made in his favor, nobody tries to re-
verse it. Where it is made against
him, the effort will be renewed on
each appeal.
The reforms Mr.. Foulke fayors are:
First, the legalizing of verdict arriv-
ed at by three-fourths of the jurymen:
second, requiring the accused to testi-