Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-03-24
JURORS SHOULD Be
COMFORTABLE SAYS
JUDGE ABBOTT
Recommends That CLAYTON
Court House Be Equipped
With Cots; Local Jurist Well
Pleased With Union County
Conditions,

Conditions
That IL is important for the calm
ana deliberate decision OF jury cases
that the Jury should be wen fed and
comfortable and have u good place to
sleep was one of the things pointed
out by Judge Ira A. Abbott of this
city In his address when he discharE-
ed the jurors at the term OF the dis
uiet court for Union county Just clos
ed al Clayton. Judge Abbott said.
Gentlemen; This is my first visit
to your county ana | have found il
very interesting. | find here. / think.
the most convenient, pleasant and at
tractive court house. There is not a
court house in my district which is the
equal of this in any respect, and l no.
tiee, too, what | think is of equal or
greater Importance. a fine locking
school building. and | also notice the
children to fiji the school house. So
with these two Institutions properly
conducted YOU have certainly two OF
the principal cornerstones OF civiliza-
ton.
Coming directly to your part of the
court this term | will say that in no
Instance has u verdict been differ
ent from what ] would have been
ready to give myself if the case had
been left TO me. You have shown the
disposition and ability to grasp cases
which have been submitted to YOU and
to decide them, in the main. properly
Now. of course. very few things IN the
world are precisely right. and when |
say ! concur in the verdicts YOU have
rendered there is stin the chance
that ! may have been mistaken, but |
believe that your verdiets have been
substantially right.
The furniture and arrangements of
the court house are not yet completed
and under the circumstances perhaps
l have worked everybody pretty hard.
but that includes myself as well as
you, and was due largely to the fact
that ! have to he in my own district
TO begin Il term of court at A%lbuquer-
que on Monday. If | could have spent
more time here I should ave cen a
.llttlc more lcnient about working eve
nings and the like. but under the cir
cumstances 20 seemed to be necessary.
\ term Of court is expensive to the
county a. best, and being here /
thought the county ought to get as
much for its money. which you all
Join in paying, as could be got ont Of
il.
! am always anxious that %lurics,
when they have to be locked
up together, as they do in the most
important cases, should be made as
comfortable as possible.
1t is rather a disagreeable duty at
best to have to be shut aWay for Il
time and | am going to nuke one
practical suggestion and nat is that
when the county officers do equip the
court house Tor final use that they
provide some cots So that a jury kept
by Itself here in the court house need
not he confined to uncomfortable
quarters, but could have cots in this
large room ana sleep here If they wish
When they were not actually engaged
IN the consideration Of u case II you
had had some cots of hat description
here night before last those of you
who We're here would have been more
comfortable, ! suppose. We have that
arrangement at Albuquerque, and 1
think it adds very much 10 the COM
of the jurors. ! must say that
when read the account of some of
trials which take placo-afler
weeks OF examination. twelve men are
secured, who it seems to me, not only
Knows nothing about the case but cun-
not know very much about anything
else after the sitting process to which
hey are subiected-then they are COM
lined into conditions TO which they are
lot accustomed. as to food. sleep and
exercise and this must go still further
effect their capacity to Intelligent
y consider the case and then they
nave to labor with hair-splitting de-
ices as to the testimony. so that the
inal result, il seems TO me is to re-
their ideas to a condition Of
haos, and thus to a condition Of all
most complete incapacity to under
tand or pass upon anything.
The apparent promptness and celer-
ty with which iuries are obtained
lere. and the like promptness and
elerity in the trial of cases seems to
cmpare most favorably with such
rails as | have just referred to, that
AXE place sometimes in the great cit
rs of our country and with which
1any Of you are no doubt familiar by
l hope New Mexico viii
ever get into that way of practice.
7 thank you, gentlemen, for your
Tendance ana for the manner in
'hich you have performed your du-
cs aud now excuse you from furth-
service.