The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-10-30
The Supreme Court Judgeship

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to such a case as his; but that kind
OF a case is governed by Sec! 7,179
which directs that the court shall in
such cases allow or disallow costs ac-
cording to the justice and equity Of,
the case.
In view of the methods pursued in
stirring up the lawsuit and the cir
cumstances of the case it would seem
to any fairminded mar that Mr.. Rob
inson ought to be thankful that he
was allowed the actual cost of print
ing his record on the appeal. 4Rsa
The foregoing are the facts of Mr.
Robinson's Simple case" Mr.. Rob-
inson's essay on judicial reform and
criticisms of the work n procedure
OF our supreme court are on a par
with his Story Of a Sample Case. 1t ~
not an accurate statement Of the facts
Mr.. Robinson in effect states that the
judges of the supreme court have by
e OF rules unnecessarily increased
the delay and expense of appeals. This
statement is without foundation.
The truth is that the procedure In
the supreme court. as in other courts,
is governed for the most part by the
constitution and the statutes enacted
by the legislature; and the judges Of
the supreme court are as much
to obey these laws as any other citizen
or officer. as
In matters not covered by the con-
s]titution and statutes the court may, )
and does, make rules from time 10
tine as ~expediency may require. But
as every practicing lawyer knows. the
rules Of the supreme court are de-
signed to and do serve to cheaper
the cost of litigation n expedite tn
speedy disposition Of it in an orderly
a to the extent that the laws per
nit.
Mr.. Robinson complains that
abstracts are required, and states
that the record rs filled with
all kinds Of matter: and In
case of ar appeal it must all be
printed in the form of a book which
is called an abstract" ...
1t is apparent to any one that the
record of the facts in the case as they
appeared in the district court must
be preserved and presented in a read T.
able form to the supreme court II n a
court is to review the case. -'
The rules expressly direct that only
the material parts of the record shall
be printed, and that unnecessary mat
ter shall be omitted, and fix penalties
for putting in the record anything
more than is necessary. @+-
In cases involving less than $500
printed abstracts are not required.
There are five judges Of the supreme
court each of whom necessarily must
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So also the lawyers must have copies .
and there must be copies to preserve
in the record. There must be at least
eight or nine copies of the record or
abstract. 1t is cheaper to print eight
or nine copies of the record in a good
sized case than 1t is to have that
many readable copies struck off on a
typewriter; and besides it is import
n that a permanent record be kept in
the library of all supreme court cases.
This could not well be done with type
written manuscripts. Consequently be-
cause the printed records are just as
cheap or cheaper, more readable ana
more permanent the rules require that
in cases involving more than 100000
the records or abstracts shall be print
ed. .-.
Mr.. Robinson says this abstract is.
seldom il ever read" This statement
is entirely wrong. No intelligent
understanding of the facts of a case
could be had without reading the
abstract.
Again MI. Robinson states Twice a
year for about six months at a time
the business of the court is held up
to await the recurrence of court
terms" rN@
The evident inference is that the
court meets once in six months and
the judges loaf the rest of the time.
Mr.. Robinson ought to know that this,
Is not true. .'zas
The state constitution (Sec. $50 pro-
vided for three terms of the supreme
court at Bismarck, Fargo and Grant
Forks respectively; but provided that
the legislature could otherwise pro-
vide. -
At the urgent demand of most OF the
lawyers OF the state and of the Judges
themselves the legislature abolished,
the terms at Fargo N Grand Forks
and provided for two terms both to
be held at Bismarck. This change was.
made because experience had shown
that only two terms were necessary
and that the holding of terms at Fargo
and Grand Forks away from the state
Library was impracticsble.
The terms merely fix a definite time
within which the cases to be presented
must be ready for hearing. Beginning
on the first day of the term the court
hears the arguments and renders IFS
decisions from time to time as speedily
as possible until the cases are all dig
! posed of. The court is open every
business day of every week from the
beginning of one term until the begin
| ming OF the next. AS everybody who
has beer around the Capitol at Bis
marck any length of time knows, the
judges of the supreme court work from
about $3.50 A. NJ. until about 5 p. NJ.
with an hour or SO for lunch; and
| often work after supper The prac-,
tice is to heal arguments in a number
of cases a couple of days each week
and devote the rest Of the time to
| study of the cases and writing de-
cisions. This is repeated week by
week until the cases arc all disposed
Of.
During the last twelve years fine
number Of cases before the supreme
court has steadily increased; so that
OF late years there IA been little or
time for a vacation between terms.
Every thinking man agrees that we
should simplify our procedure 80 as
to administer justice more cheaply and
speedily. But this reform can only be
| effected by legislation; and it may re-
quire some changes in the constitu-
ton.
Judge Bruce before he became u
Judge and since has been a foremost
advocate of simplified procedure aud
has done probably more h any other
one man in the state to further this
desired reform.
Respectfully,
Edward Engerud,
Fargo, N. D., Oct. rs, 1912.
edward Engerud is u. >. DistT1et
| Attorney and was formerly Judge SUI
| preme Court of North Dakota.)