The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1911-02-23
STIRRED UP BY UTTERANCES OF
JUSTICE WRIGHT IN SEN
+. TENCING NEGRO.
Impeachment Talk
mdulged in and resolutions are
passed after the true Washington
fasbton-NeWs notes of men and
matters of interest to the country
at large.

IhompsOnS National News Bureau.
Washington, D. c., Feb. %
Justice Daniel Thew Wright, of the
lSupreme Court of the District of
Columbia, faces the. menace of i'm
peachment proceedings, if the charg-
les lodged against him by some Of
j WashinSton's most substantial cit
liens can be sustained. At the in
stance of committee from the In
lternational Ministers Association of
the District, Representative William
s. Bennett of New York, a resolu-
!tlon calling attention to language
said to have been used by Justice
Wright in sentencing colored man
for purse-snatching, and suggesting
that "if said alleged language be
found subversive of the ends of JUS
tlce and fairness, that impeachment
proceedings be begun at once against
the said Daniel Thew Wright, JUS
ttfict Of Columbia - .------------
The committee which waited upon
Representative Bennet, to protest
against the attitude of Justice
Wright was made up Of Drs. j. Mil
ton Waldron, d. E. Wiseman, r. j.
Grimke, A. G. Garner, Former Judge
II. M. Hewlett, Lawyers J. H. Stew
are, William Harris, Rev. S. l.. Cor
rothers and others, the party num-
bering fifteen in all.
The case which called forth the
episode in which Justice Wright now
hgures so unpleasantly was one in
which a colored man was convicted
OF snatching purse from the hands
1of a woman, who happened to be
white. Justice Wright, In sentenc-
ing the Negro to fifteen years in the
penltentiary for the offense, Is said
to have given evidence Of passion far
from becoming to judicial officer,
and among many other heated and
violent remarks suggestive of race
feeling, is reported as saying:
From the viewpoint Of the white
woman of the national capital, is is
not to be tolerated that a colored
man should dare to put his hands
! on one of them. A man Of your col
(or who lays hand on white wom-
an will not be tolerated, if 1 can
help it. How dare a man Of your
color to put your hands on a woman
Of the white race here in the capital
of the nation?
The charges allege that such Ian
guage, accompanied by heat, Is un-
worthy of Judge and advertises
him as temperamentaIIy unfit for a
position on the bench Of high
court. The position Is taken by the
complainants that there is no color
distinction in crime, and while MAX
ing no objection even to the severity
Of the sentence (although it appears
excessively, the query presents itself:
Is not such crime of equal gravity
II committed against a woman of any
race, white or colored? Would the
punishment have been as great had
the victim ben a colored woman? De
Lelafins sympathy with the enforce,
ment Of the law impartialiy against
all criminals, the petitioners con-
Iclude;
| NC WI ub VI JuSLlCS wright may
tend to penalize one race in q diff
jferent manner from the other for
like offense. ANY man Of any race
who lays his hands unlawfully upon
any woman Of any race should be
punished according to law and not
according to race"
cOlOrD1 npnn1p nP 10 of "a
deeply agitated over the matter and
the indignation over the unusual at
ltitude Of Justice Wright is universal
The defiant statement Of the Justice
that he intended to mete out the
same punishment to any other Negro
who dared to snatch white wom-
ans purse added fuel to the flame
Led by DR.. Waldron and Ex-Judge
Hewlett, the matter will be pushed
to the bitter end, and even if the
impeachment of the offending jurist
does not result from the agitation,
the incident will serve a warning to
others on the local benches that the
Negro is wide-awake and will not ST.
'ently allow his rights to be set
aside, It is pretty safe to say that
Justice Wright will never again" be
guilty Of using such uncalled-for
language in his court
When sought by q reporter last
week, to secure from him state
ment on the subject, Justice Wright
was confined to his home under 9
physicians care, but word was sent
out that he had absolutely nothing
; to say in the matter" Several other
ictvic and educational bodies have