The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-31


 expected that Commissioner Lane will act upon the proposition today. He was given
 ........"............sss sssss'ss'sss''''''''''''' muckrake like those persons who are not versed in the law. A non-lawyer muck raker can severely condemn con ditions, and he is applauded if he simply discloses graphically set Of improper conditions; when lawyer criticises, however, everyone rises up and demands not only that he prove the facts as he alleges them to exist, but also to show how the conditions complained of can be ameliorated. lawyer must be specific in his reme- dies Realizing that the truth of my allegations may be questioned l will give a few actual instances which have arisen in my practice since July, and think the remedy will be obvious. will designate my clients by letters of the alphabet as l do not care to give their names. To begin with, I will say that these men were illit- erate-not ignorant-negroes. I will let you judge if their offences warranted the treatment they got at the hands of the law.
 was a hard working negro run ming an ice wagon. He was arrested on a warrant sworn out by another negro charging him with unlawful pre- sentiment of firearms. A was put un- der about $150 bond which he could not make. His case was set for about 10 weeks after his arrest. After being In jail about seven weeks he finally made bond When his case was called after that long delay he was dis missed for want of prosecution. He had told <me all along that his arrest was malicious, yet, instead of a speedy trial, he had to spend seven weeks in jail.
 B was arrested September 30, charged with gaming. He could not make bond.
 His trial was set 20 days off, necessitating his spending at least 20 days In Jail, whether he was guilty or not. And if he was guilty he got no credit on his sen tence for the days spent awaiting trial. c was arrested in July charged with burglary. He could not make bond. His trial is set for November 6, so that in. nocent or guilty he will have spent three months and half in jail at the time of his trial.
 D was arrested in June or July charged with rape. His trial is set for December 4 at which time he will have been eating the county's fare in the magnificent jail, 1 to which the county so graciously sends its prisoners, for a period of about five months.
 E was arrested on October 1 charged with carrying concealed pistol and abusive language. He was in jail two weeks be- fore he got trial.
 F was arrested on the same charges | and at the same time as E, but he had to wait until October 20 for a trial, be- ing confined all that time.
 G was arrested for stealing bicycle He remained In jail for about seven weeks, when the grand jury no-billed him. and he was released
 H is a convict who was put in jail | for assault with intent to murder He has been in jail for about seven weeks I and his trial is not set yet
 l I was arrested October charged with
 gaming and assault and battery After being in jail for three weeks he got a
 trial on the gaming charge. His trial | on the assault and battery charge is set | for November B. Thus he has waited over a month for a trial for a little fight, 1 whether he will be declared innocent or
 guilty. If Birmingham policeman had
 arrested him he would have been tried the
 next day.
 Guilty or innocent, is 1t fair to keep
 these people in jail awaiting trial so long? | Cannot justice In the courts of the county l be as summary as that in the Birmingham municipal court? I have seen policemen
 make an arrest and at the time of the | arrest they tOlQ the witnesses to be in | court the next morning. at which time
 the case was disposed of The man either got out or began at once to serve his | time and was producing somethng in- | stead of being financial burden on the ] city. Why can it not be thus with the same class of men taken up by the coun- | ty on such charges?
 They say that the jail Is overcrowded.
 and conditions there. I know, are bad in
 that respect. But this overcrowding is due to the fact that these offenders are kept in jail so long before being given | a trial The county should be able to 1 dispose of, on one day, the minor of lenses committed on the previous day or two Why are cases not tried sooner [? The answer may be that there are not enough judges to try these cases with dispatch. It seems to me that the judges
 should get into line with the spirit of the tmes-and the lawyers, too--and work for
 industrial efficiency" in the courts. I
 believe that the judges could easily try more cases a day than they do now. The judges working day seems quite short
 to me. Of course it is trying occupa- tion. but I merely offer my opinion that I think that the judges do not put In
 enough working hours on the bench, when | the jail is so full of prisoners who want
 a trial. For instance x was arrested
 on warrant for vagrancy on Tuesday of
 one week. His trial was set for Il days
 ahead. I asked the judge if he could
 not have trial on the Saturday fol-
 lowing the Tuesday on which he was arr
 rested. but the judge said that he had a
 heavy docket for that day. On that Sat-
 urday I went around to the court about
 11:sO and the judge had adjourned court luntiI 2 o'clDck Al o'cloclr ha held su.