The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-01-31
CASES OF INTEREST

Additional Punishment for Habit.
.ua1 Criminalss-The state of West Viz
ginia has a statute providing in sub
stance that when a prisoner is reee1V-
ed at the penitentiary after sentence
it shall be the duty Of the penitentiary
superintendent to give Information
without delay to the circuit court Of
the county in which the penitentiary
is located of facts showing that the
prisoner has formerly been an inmate
under conviction of a different crime.
and that proceedings shall thereupon
be taken to try the question OF. dden-
tain additional punishment shall be
melted out. In the case of Graham
VS.. West Virginia 80 Supreme Court
Reporter, $780, Graham appeals from a
Judgment, affirming the sentence for
life imposed on a third conviction. un-
der the law set out above. Various
objections are urged
it is upheld by the United States SUI
preme Court as being entirely valid.
Sterilization by vasectomy. ON the
theory that modern scientific investi-
CATION shows that idiocy, insanity inn
becfIity, and crimina1ity are congeni-
tai and hereditary, several states (vide
Washington, California, Connecticut,
Indiana and Iowa) have recently en-
acted laws providing for the steriliza-
ton of insane habftual criminals, etc.
vasectoTny seems to sbe a common OPP
GRAFTON. The constitutuionality of the
Washington statute has been lately
passed upon in the case of State vs.
PENDANT was convicted of statutory
rape committed upon female child
under the age of 10 years, and sem
fenced to Imprisonment for l1fes and
that an operation be performed upon
him for. the prevention of pfocreation.
The question presented for the Sill
err such an operation must be judi-
cially declared stcruel punishment.
forbidden by the Constitution To be-
gin with what is 'cruel punishment !?
In looking back, the history of our
law tells JUS of the terrible punish
ment visited by the ancient law upon
convict criminals which to our days
of advanced Christianity are both
shocking and heartrendfng. In re-
viewing those horrible and barbarouS
infections, we are reminded of such
whipping post, the pilIory, burning at
the stake, breaking on the wheel,
drawing and quartering, cutting of
the nose, ears, or limbs. or. strangllng
punishnentsS,W which disgraced
the civilization of the early ages. Is
history repeating itself in this new and
modern inflictfon-vasectoTn Vasec-
tony is an operation painlessly per-
form ed in. a few minutes under an;
anesthetic through a. skin cut half
an inch long and entaiiing no wound,
no confinement to bed As.
said by one expert, TT is less serious
than the extraction of a. TOOTH An
other expert states that he performs
it without even administering an an
aesthetic; that it requires but about
three minutes, and that the subject
to work Immediately, suffers
no Inconvenience, and is effectively
5teriIized. In view of these facts, the
court says that it cannot hold that
vasectomy is such cruel punish
nent as cannot be inflicted upon APP
cellent for the horrible and brutal
crime of which he has been convict
ed'' The statute is held constitution
IL and the judgment affirmed.
Commercial Use of College Names-
candy manufacturer of Kansas City
called one of his varieties Vassar
and put them up in pack
ages on which appeared the name
.Vassar," a likeness Of young lady
wearing a rnortarboard hat, an fnita-
ion of the college pennant, a college
yell, and an imitation of the college
seal with the words "Vassar Choco-
ates'' and Always Fresh substituted
.or the words "Vassar College" and
Purity and Wisdom 1t was claim
I'd in Vassar College VS.. Loose-Wi1esI
Biscuit Co., 1877 Federal Reporter, 982,
among other things, that the use of
he name and pictures was calculat-
ed to create in the public mind the
IMPRESSION that the chocolates were "a