New-York tribune., 1911-12-25
PROTEST CH|LDREN'S
COURT ASSIGNMENTS
Charity Organization Society
Committee Writes to CHIEF
Justice Russell.
SEEKS CONTINUOUS SERVICE
peplv Made That No Member OF
special Sessions Bench Would
Be Willing to Accept
Permanent Term.

,.s,,;,al courts Of the Charity Organiza-
-, Society. The committee writes that
Y,stice Russelrs assignments of seven dill
<.,,+ justices TO sit in the childrens
,rts of greater New York during the
s.r,irr wear. each justice sitting for a
.,,r, NJ from one 10 three months and al
,.-ratinc between the Chlldren's Court and
~. court Of Special Sessions, seems to-
.avr at variance with the spirit and. in
s.o5 the letter Of the so-called Page law
,,,se~ which he is operating. The letter
o',otes from the Page law the provision:
In ASSIGNING justices TO sit in the chill
s-e,.s courts. he (the chief justice) shall
S.ye regard for the fitness of the justice
g, assigned and. so far as practicable. shall
make such assignments for substantial
,srio5s OF service in said Children's
Court ,.,..
.f,s, working several hours on his reply
Chief Justice Russell made 1t public late
ast nicht He said no member of the
special Sessions bench would willingly ac-
cept a permanent assignment to the chill
drens Court
The committc IS letter is as follows:
~. no stretch Of Imagination does it seem
O., lis that the assignments which have JUST
laaT quoted can ne OtIltu 10 Dc dS'l5Ai
mcnts fOr substantial periods. You must
h. aware that the purpose of the Page law
iu this provision was 10 assign 10 the cnlI-
dren's courts so far as possible a Judge
Who m.eht become a specialist deVOuhs
most of his time TO the work Of that court
In accordance. with the practice Which mas
been SO successfully established In other
cities where Childreas courts are con
ducfad. and i'm accordance with the views
Of those men who have a right TO speak
with authority on this subject.
We desire TO call your attention 70 the
fact that in an the large cities OF the
United states. such as Washington, Balu-
more. Boston. Chicago, Denver, Mllwaukee'
81 Louis and others where there are chill
dreu's courts, there are in each case sPe-
cial th.ldren'S court 1udges-men VINO ue-
vote practically their entire time 10 the
work of the children's courts and who nave
special qualifications for TINS work lhese
cities indeed after years OF experience,
have found ~ TO be essential, in order 10
car, adequately for their juvenile delin-
0gerts that the judges in the Chidren's
courts should be eXperts-men who are de-
votir- themselves exclusively TO this KIND
o. work
All of the juvenile court authorities who
have made a particular study OF the 5uve-
nile offenders are of this opinion, according
10 the letter, which refers TO Judge Julian
" Mack. Judge Ben B. Lindsey. Miss Jane
adams and Bernard Flesner. The com
nittce goes on as follows:
The committee is Of the opinion and has
reason TO believe that in expressing this
opinion IL is yoicing the prevailing public
sentiment that:
First-The method OF conducting the
cases in the childrens court should be
wholly different from the procedure fol-
lowed I'm the criminal court for adults.
AS judge Mack so ably puts IL, the cues
Are YOU guilty or are you not guilty; we
cont care why while in the children
court. the question In the judges mind
should be Why are YOU what you are
what can we DO 10 help your
SecOnd-The type or man who success
fully fills the position Of juvenile, court
judge must be more than a trained lawyer
he must be very human and, above ell
else, very sympathetic, while those quail
ties as the criminal law IS at present ad-
ministered are not 80 essential for the
criminal court Judge. In brief, the man
on the bench in one court IS judge and
IN the other his position and his attitude
toward the child should be that OF father.
Third.-It Is only by continuity OF SER
vice that the Judge can come into close
personal relations with the children VINO
appear before him. AS far as possible
given child ought always to appear before
the same Judge. Unless this is the case
the child viii receive different treatment
from the different judges ana no one OF
the Judges Will have that particular chlld
interest az heart and be able 10 understand
his case as would the man VINO, having
deal. with him from the beginning, IS con-
versaut with his whole history ana en-
Lastly.-The Judge who is devoting him
self solely 10 children's court work Will
realize more fully the needs ana lmperlec-
tons Of that court and is more likely 10
devote his time and energy 70 securing
needed improvements than the man VINO
merely sits in the children's court Tor
leW months IN the year and has nelther
t5s. tas It"' Il nor the speY''' -''sD,l'g ~ 80,
4 cod = c
nents 20 the chidren's courts for the com
irs year and that YOU assign not more
Than FOUR judges 10 the four children
courts IN The greater city. each Judge TO
fit -asrv for Substantial periods in
Iarf'C-Iar court.
We further respectfully request you KIND
II % inform US. and through us the pubic.
who. as YOU must appreciate. are CeepI!
Interested in this subject. what obstacles
there are 20 your carrying out this sug-
geston.
The letter is signed by Bronson Win
throp. chairman, for the Committee of
Criminal Courts OF the Charity Organiza-
ton Society.
Among the members Of this committee
ass OTTO T. Barnard. George ". Kirchwey.
Ersder.ck Trevor Hill. Alton 3. Parker
Geo-ge w.. Schurman and William j
White
Chief Justice Russell answered the letter
q the committee last night He said thai
r Eew York County Justices Olmstead,
.loss and HOyt were 70 sit each for Q
period OF four months, but according TO q
fehsd-Ie that he furnished this was their
tine f1r the whole year, and not for con
securve terms He also said that in Kings
County Justices Willdn and O'Keefe we're
70 III each for five months and Justice
r @ .Iugttce
OKeese's term Of FIVE months was not con-
tec-tlye. lie wrote. in part:
One reason why no single Justice has been
SSslgnec % SIT continuously thrCuShout tEe
yer ~ the children.s court II New YORK
y that thc chief Justice knows Of no mem
Hi ot the court who Would DC Wluns "
tSkc such an assignment Experience
shows that. with rare exceptions. II Is un-
out rest.
sixty cases on the calendar, and with three
hours for the daily session, not more time
ihan three minutes can be devoted TO the
ease. This arOuseS the indignant prolesI
OF the casual and superficial observer. TX
ltrence however. does not JUSTIFY lhlS
Ilucsm. There is much In the technique
SI procedure which aids dlscipllhed Juuse.
Many devices such as the color ana shape
o. various papers afiidavits, summonses
ahd reports enable the presiding magls-
uale al "a glance 10 COmprehend very tuily
ne exact nature Of the matter before the
court and 10 understand the significance Of
records which seem bulky ana v0uInlnoub
For myself ] am bold 20 say that | nave
never felt that any better results than
nose ordinarily reached could De secureu
" 4 larger expenditure OF time.
As practical question il may be Wortn
considering whether IL is possible TO detali
i0ur judges out OF the fifteen now compos-
ing the Court OF Special Sessions 20 work
exclusively IN the children's courts OF me
tfeater CITY. with a reasonable allowance
~ ~ ume for vacations. and diWdlng the IA
Ithel from the heavy burdens IN New
,ork County In the lighter service IN ~, m i5roph-
~ ana the suburban sections. rms n@as @