The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1913-10-15
CRIME AND PENAL TY
LOGICAL ADDRESS
DELIVERED TODAY BEFORE The
AMERICAN PRISON ASSOCIA.
TON AT INDIANAPOLIS.

J
his crime, in the opinion of W. Fl.
] Berry, for six years a member of the
Iowa beard of parole and only the
Judge OF all the earth has a right
10 say, the soul that sinneth, it
shall die"
Nor should punishment be the OBJ
ject of enforcing penalties accord
ing to Mr.. Berry; rather, punishment
should be an indirect result with
reformation the object. For one
prisoner may have but moral whoop-
ing cough and may soon be cured,
while another may be moral leper
and may never be cured yet both
may be discharged together under
the present method of administer
ing justice in many states.
The palative for the long train
OF moral disorders that lie in the
trail of a fixed sentence, in Mr.
Berry's opinion, is the indetermnate
sentence. In his address today be-
fore the American Prison Associa-
tion, Mr. Berry so asserted adding
that it would be- better still for
judges simply to sentence criminals
to Imprisonment and leave to an
other tribunal inferentially the board
of parole, the task of determining
how long the sentences should be.
"To accomplish most successfully |
the things desired in the enforce
ment of the law, the indeterminate |
sentence in fact as well as in name, |
| conceive to be necessity" Mr.. |
Berry said. First, because judges
cannot fix intelligently the amount
of penalty law violator should |
pay; second because the penalty !
one man should have to pay for an
ofense is no criterion from which
to judge what another man should
pay for a similar Offense unless
all the conditions are the same;
third, because there are some per-
sons convicted of crime who should
by reason of the nature eof the
crime they committed or the impos-
sibility Of reformation, and for the
good of society be isolated indefi-
nitely and possibly for life.
"The average criminal is. an un-
known man to the grand jurors who
who prosecuted him, to the jurors
by whose verdict he was found gull
" and the judge who pronounced
-he sentence. AS a rule the only
acts revealed by the trial are those
connected with the commission of the
particular offence with which he is
charged; no judge, however learned,
loweveT just, however honest, can
ell how long the average man
should be confined in order to ac-
any one of the objects OF
he infliction of the penalties of the
aw as stated above.
The man before the Judge and
ury is presumed to be innocent. is
ntitled to that presumption until
lie has exhausted all the means pro-
ided by law to prevent his final
onyiction. No Judge when he pro- .
ounces sentence on the prisoner has
right to demand of the prisoner g.
hat he shall reveal himself and his
istory, for the reason that there 4,
re steps which may yet be taken n
hat may result in his acquittal to :
ompel the prisoner to disclose his n
istory and thereby give evidence n
gainst himself would be not only
ontrary to law but a great injus-
ice, How can the sentencing judge
now or guess whether three or
lirty years is what the prisoner be
Dre him for sentence should re-
Give in order to accomplish his ref
rmation or deter him from repeat
lg or deter others from commit. y
ng Crime? How can the sentenc- b
lg Judge know whether the pris- a
ner before him is a repeater or g
rst offender? {
mo man can determine how much
lnishment should be visited on his
llow man as punishment for his
Tense AS said above, there is hc
lnishment inflicted in the enforcing ur
penalties to prevent repetition, mi
deter others and become a will TO
g observer of the law. Such pun
lment inheres in the enforcing of
ese penalties for the ACCOMPLISH