The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-09-22
UTAH WOMAN JUROR
POSSIBLE; UNLIKELY
Constitution Contains No
Prohibition, but Provides
Exemption From Duty.
QUALIFIED TO SERVE
Judges Hold Feminine lntui-
ton Competent as Faulty
Logic of Men.
QUALIFIED TO SERVE

Logic or wen.
Though Utah always has had incor-
porated in its constitution full en-
franchisement for women, not within
the history of the judiciary in this
state has woman sat upon jury TO
try either criminal or civil cases. In
view of the fact that other states
where woman has been epfranchised
but recently are enjoying the novelty
of women jurors, the reason for this
state never having called upon its fem
mime citizens to decide its controver-
sizes aud TO preside IN its temple or JUS
ticc is of timely interest.
The reason is this: Women are eX-
empt-not barred or prohibited
Just exempt, the same as doctors and
lawyers and newspaper mon are ex-
cmpt. The state constitution In listing
the causes Of exemption from jury
service declares that female citizen
may claim exemption. The reason for
the inclusion of that provision, placed
at the very bottom of the list, is not
easily discernible.
Right, but Not Duty.
q
But, acting upon it, every jury COM
mission ever named in Utah has been
careful to select the name of no wo
man for service. Consequently no
woman has ever entered the Jury box
and from the expressions gained from
local members of tho judiciary, she is
never likely to. Jury service is uni
vcrsallv taken as duty, th"-- say. anu
the women of Utah, far from being
deprived Of any rights, have been
granted the franchise, with the extra
privilege of exemption from Jury serv-
ice thrown in for good measure.
However, should any woman Of Utah
take the stand that she was being ar
bitrarilv deprived of right by the
Jury commission, she could take legal
action to force the selection of women
on the jury fist. In doing that. how
ever, she would Immediately lay her
self open to challenge in the jury box
on the ground that she had ulterior
motives for serving. according to .jndoc
George G.. Armstrong of the district
court.
Judge Armstrong, by the way, has
some gallant views on the question of
the fair sex in the jury box. He takes
issue with Hugo Meunstenberg, the
noted Harvard psychologist, who de-
c'ared in a recent article that woman
was of too stubborn mentality for
Jury service The Harvard man said
that woman has q habit of arriving at
conclusions across lots by a sort of IN
stinct or intuition. rather. than reason
and logic.
Judge Praises Intuition.
That may be true, said the jude
The other day, "but I'll wager that
the average woman can jump closer TO
the right conclusion with her eyes
bIind-f folded than the average man IN
the Jury box can. with much logic and
devious reasoning. ANY man who has
ever argued with a woman knows
that.
E'As | understand it," the Judge
continued, ''woman is not called to
the jury box for the same reason that
doctors or other men exempt from
service are not. 1T would be folly
for the jury commission to fill its
lists with names Of persons who could
claim exemption tine moment they were
placed in the box. About four women
out of five would claim their exemp-
ton. anyway, / think, and the fifth
would be open to suspicion for not
claiming it and would succumb 10 the
first preemptory challenge of the con-
tending LAWYERS. And so | do not be-
lieve femininity will be seen in Utah
Jury boxes while the present law
granting the right of exemption is on
the books.
Judge NJ. l.. Richie, also Of the dis
trict court, is of much the same opin-
ion as Judge Armstrong In fact, he
have yet to prove that intuition or in
stinct is not Just as capable Of lead
ing the human mind to the correct
conclusion as logic and cold reasoning
powers.
''Pure Logic" a Dream.
- Most men jurors are more or less
influenced by the prejudices of instinct
or intuition, anyway" he said. "Pure
reasoning is impossible. Man is not
yet able to emancipate his intellec-
tualism from certain inexplicable in
flucnces arising from the instinct. In.
arriving at conclusion spontaneously
without going through processes of
logic. Woman eXcells at this faculty
She does not always have to repeat
the mental formula that two plus two
makes four: She knows the answer in
stinctiveIy..'
Judge Frederick c, Loofbourow. who
preSides over the criminal division OF
he district court, is also against the
Meunstenberg theory. He does not be
lieve there is any appreciabIe differ
euce between the ability of men and
women so far as jury service is con
cerned, and it is possible. he thinks
that woman might be superior to mer
in this respect because of that very
ntuitive faculty that the psychologist
dccries
L. O. Leatherwood district attorney
whose eloqnence before the iury j:
generally known, said he would like tt
see women in the Jury box.
''They have proven their right Il
follow wherever man goes in his
search for the truth he said OH
the universities they have established
their equality and in some things theil
superiority l really believe that il
cases before a court of Justice wher,
the question of moral right, rathe
than legal right, is at issue, womer
would prove far superior to man as
juror. Justice would be better served
in such cases with women in the jury
box. -
Arrest Man and Woman.
6, w. White and Caroline White wer,
arrested and booked yesterday afternoon
I< OH nF rlc,