Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-02-01
Court R.form-R.duc. Expenses.

On one point l find that the ablest law
yers and the progressive judges who have
set their faces toward the light are practt-
cally agreed. That is the personal guilt
OF the udges and the efficacy OF direct,
detailed criticism of their individual acts.
Whatever excuse they may urge, how
selves BY a%ntiquated codes and rules OF
procedure, the fact remains that the
judges are not simply legal ~autolnatons
but the executive administrators Of JUS
tice.
Reforms are bound to come. They have
largely been effected in England, and are
being silently put into practice by the bet
include In brief:
The Encouragement of Appeals-!n
spite OF the fact that we have over 500
country. a majority of these courts are
behind their dockets anywhere from one
to four years: But above all questions OF
laziness or dilatoriness is the fact that
appeals pay. If. as In England. there were
but 10 new trials granted out OF II total
of 100000 of civil actions brought. there
would not be AGO appeal decisions in the
United States.
The Abandonment OF Technicalities OF
Procedure-The New York court OF APP
peals has set an admirable example with
IN recent years in declining to upset YER
diets and decisions which manifestly have
nothing to do with the merits of the case.
And yet this same court has recently
people VS.. FabeTl held that failure to ask
the defendant on being sentenced If he
has any reason to offer why sentence
should not be pronounced is a serious err
ror and constitutes a mistrial!
In 1896 to 1902 reversals in the New York
appellate court averaged above 30 per Gent:
In the last year 3.14l appeals and more
than 1000 reversals. Here. as everywhere.
the larger part of these reversals turned
upon pure technicalities which did not
concern the merits of the controversy in
any way.
Enforced Time Saving in Challenging
Jurors-We. have recently had II fresh ex-
ample. of this uncomfortable abuse in the
trial just terminated SO abruptly. in Los
consumed in securing the eight Jurors.
And yet the chief counc for the defense
has admitted: In his own defense. hat he
guilty and that he knew before the trial
began that the evidence for the prosecu-
ton constituted an i~mpregnable wall
that the case was absolutely hopeless.
And the people OF Loo Angeles county
Now confront these facts with the state
preme court. that In all his long years Of
service on the bench before his promo
tom. the impaneling of a Jury had never
required or exceeded tlsee hours in any
The Restraint OF Abuses Of Courtesy
Recently, in the supreme court of New
York. In a list OF 40 cases. not one was
the lawyers, Justice Goff pointed out
that at the time there were five parts OF
this same court in New York city prac-
tically Idle. with hundreds OF cases upon
the dockets, for the same reason. Each
of these five judges was costing the peo-
pie of New York s17,5oo yearly in salary.
The cases We're largely accident cases.
and failures to appear. on the one side or
the other. were for one reason only, the
profit of delay. 1t is almost unbelievable
that judges who refuse to become parties
to this abuse could not effect a drastic
reform.
In plain words. the evidence seems clear
that the scandal of the laws delays in
the blind adherence of the Judges to OUT
sworn rules and customs which are utter
ly incapable of coping with modern con
ditions.
From a careful review of a large num-.
Der Of criticisms by able Judges and re-
ports of the bar associations Committees
] believe that the judges. and the Judges
alone, and unaided. could do away with
three-tifths. If not four-fifths. of these de.
lays. Now, whenever the mmun at
large awakes to the fact that the laws
delays are due to the failure of judges
expeditiously to administer Justice. re-
form viii come promptly. and this with
out any constitutional amendments or
change of laws.