Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-01-13

There Is only one other state which
gives one member that right, and that
u the state Of Delaware, whose lower
house consists Of only thirty i've
members. Other states which have
any constitutional provision on the
subject require more than one member
or else some fraction Of the NOM
bership, like one-tenth, one-sixth
or one-hfth. In the beginning
the membership Of the house Of repre-.
sentAtives was small and the right Of
one member to demand the yeas and
nays then was a very different thing
from permitting It now.
The size Of the house requires that
the right should appertain to a cer-
taAn number Of members instead of
certain fraction Of the membership;
otherwise. the determination Of tho
Hacuon would practically result In
making the same delay as the calling
OF the yeas and nays itself.
PROPOSAL FIVE
That section 20 Of Chapter 2 Of the
Constitution be amended 10 read "a
follows:
"sectlen 20. No person OUGHT In
any case, or In any time, TO be de.
clared guilty Of treason or felony, bv
tho legislature, nor to have his sen.
tenee upon conviction for felony CON-
nuted. RENTED or n,itiaated bv the
legislature"
And that Section II Of Chapter 2
be amended by omittlns the words
land murder" where they occur
therein.
Section II OF Chapter 2, relating ~
the powers Of the executive. provides
that the governor shall have power
to grant pardons and remit fines, in
all cases whatsoever, except In troa.
son and murder; in which they chez
shall have power to grant reprievcs,
but not to pardon. until after the end
OF the next session of the assembly:
and except in cases of impeachment,
in which there shall be no remission
or mitigation OF punishment but by
act Of legislation. The inference Is
drawn from the above that the power
to commute sentences for murder
which Is withdrawn from the govern
or, was intended to be given to the
general assembly, and the general as.
sembly is accustomed to exercise that
right, if not by inference from the
passage quoted, then under Its unre.
stricted sovereign powers.
The right to extend mercy to a per-
son convicted Of murder in the first
degree being withdrawn from the gov
ernor by the constitution, Section
1856 Of the Public Statutes provides.
in order to permit the legislature to
extend such mercy II 1t chooses, that
mo person sentenced to suffer the
punishment Of death shall be executed
previous to the first day OF January
after the close of the session Of tho
general assembly following such SEN
tence."
The execution of a death sentence
is thereby usually postponed from one
to two years. and an appeal to the
legislature for Communication Is pra cti-
cally always made. The attorneys
and friends Of the convicted man are
not considered to have exhausted his
defense until such an appeal is made
and strenuously pressed. The result
is that the case of every person con-
victed of murder in the FIRST degree
must be threshed over In the legisla-
ture, and the evidence and proceed
ings are supposed to be reviewed and
reconsidered by large body, neither
trained nor intended for such work.
II the purpose Of such review is to
see whether any mistake or error has
been made In the trial. that is purely
a judicial question and should apper-
tain finally to the Supreme court. II
it be a question OF mercy. 1t is a
principle common to all American con :
stitutions that such question is ex-
ecutive and should appertain to the
governor or . pardoaing board.
There are special and justifable
reasons why the power b remit or
mitigate punishment IN case Of trea
son or Impeachment might be taken
from the governor. as such cases Of
ten involve executive oficers or else
affect the general public safety: but
neither of those considerations apply
to the case of murder. The consid-
Grafton Of individual murder cases by
the legislature is an assumption of
either judicial or executive powers, or
both. and contrary to the spirit of
Section 6 Of Chapter 2 Of the Con-
stitution. which provides that the
legislative. executive and judiciary
departments shall be separate and dis.
tinct, so that neither exercise the
powers properly belonging to the
other"
It is a fundamental principle OF our
institutions that legislative bodies
shan not determine individual cases
of crime. Section 10 of Article of
the Constitution of the United States
forbds any state to pass any bill of
attainder," that Is "a legislative act
which inhicts punishment without a
judicial trial." Cummings VS.. Mis-
souri,, 4 Wall. 277.) And Section 20
Of our constitution now provides tina,
no person ought in any case. or at any
time, to be declared guilty Of trea :
son or felony by the legislature " The
legislature Is forbidden To try a man
for murder and there is no justifica-
ton In principle for 1t to "untry" him