Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1913-01-14
The Contempt
Case
Comment Of tho Press on Recent
Supreme Court Decision.
That Contempt Case.
(Montpelier Examinei)

va sfAt5ht WVutu say II ne were mere
about the supreme court decision in
The Capital News contempt case,
wherein Editor Broxon and Publisher
Sheridan, together with one A. r.
1 Cruzen, were sent to Jail for ten days
ana fined $500 for contempt of that
court, but If we were the permanent
editor here is what we would say.
] The writer is member of the bar
or the supreme court of the state and
has a very high opinion Of that court
as court, as well as of the members
thereon, knowing all of them person.
i ally, bat nevertheless we cannot help
but feel that the court made mistake
in paying any attention to the publ
cation OF the alleged contempt mat
ters. and secondly, in giving the par
ties charged such severe sentence.
/ There Is growing disposition on
the part of great number of the peo-
pie to believe that the courts are as
Stunning powers never intended to be
conferred upon them by the founders
! OF the republic, and later, the found
! ers of the state. 1t is altogether i'm
probable that these people, or many of
the people, will stop to analyze upon
what grounds this verdict against the
/ defendants was given. They will only
look at the results, and to most of
them it is bound to occur that the
! supreme court exercised its power
4 simply because it had the power and
/ not because 1t was right in doing So
/ Herein will be found the weakness of
the whole matter, that is, instead of
raising the dignity of the court and
its members III the eyes of the people,
it will have the opposite effect and
the court will accordingly suffer.
There seems no way of escaping the
/ fact that the court being prosecutor
jury ana judge, will be accused of
taking advantage of the defendants
in way that left the latter helpless,
and having them thus it proceeds to
wreak vengeance on them to the full
extent Of its pleasure We doubt if
anyone really, on second thought be-
licves that the court intended to place
itself in this position, but as before
stated. the results are mostly what
| the bulk Of the people look to, not the
intent.
To the newspaper fraternity, 1t
leaves them wholly at sea as to the
extent they may go in criticsing a
decision. 1t is true that the court
said that they had no intention of
curbing just criticism but the point
with tho editors of the state will be,
what is Just criticism?" And again
the court will say they had no intention
of Furnishing except when a paper In
its criticism of opinions states or pub
fishes downright falsehoods But how
can the paper plead that 1t is publish
ing the truth when 1t has no way or
showing that its criticisms are the
truth For instance, suppose a paper
should allese that a decision was a
political one, based on the hope that
the promGigator thereof would reap
some personal benefit therefrom, and
suppose the court, or judge, might deny
that such was the case, and yet as a
matter of fact that was the intention,
how could the editor back up his as
sertion with the proofa He can only
draw differences. and these differences
might in the light of all the matters
mentioned, be the reasonable conclu-
sions To be drawn, yet If the court
took the opposite view, TO protect it
self from what might really be a Just
eensure of its action. the editor could
be called before the bar and given a
Jail sentence for contempt
From outside the state the court Is
being subjected to the most singing
eensure for it's action, and this. too
by papers of every political shade of
opinion. So that the supreme court
OF this state. which has heretofore
stood on a level with the very highest
in the union. has suddenly brought on
itself, whether deserved or not. the
most bitter criticism ever melted out
to any tribunal in the new world.
Much of this censure is, no doubt.
founded on premises wholly at vari-
ance with what the court intended, or
perhaps most of il Il made without
any study of the ease bn these writer's.
but It i made Just the same, and that
far has placed our supreme law trib-
unal IN a most unenviable light before
the world OF course this can have
but ono effect, that of lowering the
dignity and reducing the respect here
tofore accorded to our appeal Judges
The writer deeply regrets that the
members of the court arrived at the
view that they were compelled to take i
judicial notice of the matter at all, |
for 1t has aroused an antagonism to- |
wards our courts that they do not de-
serve, but which they themselves will |
have te shoulder the responsibility for. |
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