The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-31
TIE LAWS DELAY IN
 JEFFERSON COUNTY
Attorney Cites Instances of Injustice Under the Pres
 ent Conditions

To the Editor of The Age Herald;
 It has become a trite matter fer muck rakers to berate, from vica- rious viewpoint. the laws delays. For hundreds of years back into the his tory of the English law there have heen railings and rantings at the laws delays in both it's criminal and civil sides. caused by eombrous procedure. which itself made for delays. and b.' the abuses of that procedure, which made for further delays.
 The well to do litigant in a civil suit today. and by well to do" litigant mean one who is not dependent on the outcome of a particular suit for his immediate subsistence, complains feelingly about the delay in establish ing his remedial rights in a court of justice, and he has right to com plain. since the conditions warrant 1t, and something should be done for him to get his rights quicker; but I want to say something about a different class of people who get into the clutches of the law. and to whom de- lays are more obnoxious and more in sidious in their operation tnan any legal delays I know of. The benefici- aries of an estate no doubt have good grounds for feeling something of disgust for and distrust of the law when their property Is involved in six years of more or less meaningless liti- gation: but their disquietude cannot be compared to that caused by the
 ierrao y1f iniIlSftCn which is done to a certain class or people In Jefferson county at the pres ent time. I refer to those who are taken up by the sheriffs officers for offences both trivial and grave, There
 is so much that is obnoxious and putrld about the arrest, detention and trial of offenders against the law in Jefer- son county that even members of the legal profession who have practiced criminal law here for years do not pay much attention to the individual cases of injustice, other than denounce them privately, having become so accustomed 10 that sort of thing for years that they are prone to regard 1t as a con- dition that it is impossible to remedy. There Is not lawyer in Birmingham who Is familiar with criminal condl- tions in this county, who will not say that conditions ought to be remedied. But that is about all they will do simply agree that conditions are bac. Why has the profession stood for the abuses as long as 1t nas? do not know unless 1t be this, that the old CT men become "conservative' and do not like to tread on anybody's toes and do not like to run the risk of antagonizing judges, jail attaches and | other officers connected with the ad' ministration of. justice. These men,
 however if they are of the proper kind
 win not resent well directed criticism even though it reflect on them.
 | It is high time that people were de- manding that something be done to remedy these conditions. They will not be remedied until public opinion | Is brought to bear on the situation There has been a lot of abstract talk
 engaged in to a large extent by peo- ple with social reform instincts, about the delays in criminal law administra- ton. This should not be disparaged either. But the lawyers have not done
 what they could and should do in thi: regard; and the lawyers could, If the!
 would effect complete reform in { 1 few months Will not some one star the movement? That is what make!
 the conditions still more obnoxious
 the fact that the conditions are readilt
 remediahle and I believe at very lit tie or no expense.
 Lawyers are never privileged t'