The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-04-30
Judges Not InfaInbIs.

We cannot agree with Mr.. Roose- !
welt in his attack upon our courts, but
we do admit that there is reason for
honest criticism of some courts and
some judges. The fact that man
has been eeleted by the people to in
terpret the laws which the people
have made need not necessarily trans
form him from flesh and blood to
fossil, put a stone. where his heart
once was, or warrant him in wrap
ping about himself mantle of judi
cal ermine which really hides him
from the eyes OF the people about as
much as would screen cloth thrown
over the wooden statue of Buddha.
The fact that man has been
chosen to act as Judge and that the
people have sufficient confidence in
him to submit their differences TO
him need not make 1t necessary for
him to absolutely segregate himself
from his friends, or compel him t.
treat every litigant as would-be rob
Der. Judges are supposed to be hui
man. No one unless it be some one
of their own number has any idea
|
Most of them are honest.
| The honest judge cannot be con-
taminated by contact with his fellow
men. and the 'holier than thou" air
which some of them assume when on
and off the bench, tends to make men
suspicious, rather than to fill them
with awe. The longer man lives
the more he comes to feel that no one
man knows all that is to be known,
and the assumption of superiority
and competence by any Judge dis
credits all judges.
Right or wrong, litigants have come
to feel that justice, real justice, can
better be obtained out OF courts than
in it, A large number of the ablest
attorneys exhaust every honorable
means OF adjusting their lawsuits out
of court No man ought to feel
afraid to seek his legal remedy, but
the fact is that most men today keen
out of court until they are driven
there The people seem to feel that
as a remedy for ills, the court is not
a means TO be sought, and that it is
an end TO be avoided
The courts, and that means the
Judges, must regain the confidence OF
the people There is no question but
they have lost it, They can never
regain 1t by assuming to be apart
from and above and beyond the peo
pie who elected them, or by assuming
an air of infallibility. When a judge
ceases to be human, or fancies that
he has lost one human attribute
namely, the ability to error when
he ceases to trust his fellowman and
holds himself aloof from contact with
the common herd because OF his fear
> of contamination. then 1t is time fol
3 him to learn that he Is decidedly hui
man. and the he has made big mis-
take.
The bench suffers more by reason
of the fact that there are more
judges who have forgotten that they
. once were human than it does by the
fact that there are dishonest and cor
rupt judges wearing the Judicial
ermine. The people are dissatisfied
+ with our courts. and that means they
, distrust the judges. The courts. anC
hpN Aht pcoPiNf oit " pioiiS AOi thi'
, state OF mind.
AS says Mr. Post in the Saturda!
Evening Post of last week:
The judiciary of this Republic
must abandon the idea that 1t is in
trusted with work any more sacred
; than that OF other departments O
government. II is now called upoI
y to meet the modern requirments 0
civilization in an age OF organization
and unity.
1t must lay aside its pretention
; to an esoteric seclusion. it's Chimes
worship OF precedent and custom an,
its horror of change; and it mus
undertake to put the administrator
Of justice upon a practical and eff
cient basis.
These reforms cannot be mad
safely by any authority other tha
the judiciary. Now and then a grea
layman. like Cromwell, has don
much; but serviceable changes in tn
law have come from within-and the
= must come from within now Their
is nothing wrong with the genera
scheme OF our system OF justice. Tn
general principles are. as rul,
sound. The procedure in its mai
features is. as a rule. correct. TIL
faults of which the people complai
may be removed easily and II is III
work of the judiciary to remoy