The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1917-07-21
Saturday Euening Letter
By Justice J. E. Robinson

J. f.. Robinson
thousands of similar cases in the re-
ports. judgment of conviction was
reversed because in charging the jury
the court stated the facts and argued
the case against the defendant. That
was dead conclusive point and the
Judge should not have spun out his
decision and wasted his time by not.
ing and discussing nine. immaterial
points. u
If a Judge wants to write a mere
commentary on the law, he should do
it at his own expense and not at the
expense of the suitOrs and the public
To publish and book supreme court
decisions does cost the public or some
one about $40 page. The cost is
often more than the amount involved
in the litigation. This, the judges
never consider. They touch not the
burden with one of their fingers. 1t
is a public affair in which there Is
no business economy. BY actual count
of words it appears that the average
length of our supreme court decisions
have been much greater than those
of any other state. They contain too
much stuffing; and that is a sorry
compliment. .@.!.t-.
In early days our judges wrote NAM
moth. sentences, covering whole pages.
They threw together a mass of words,
regardless of rules of grammar, com.
position or punctuation. 1t may be
of interest to our grammar class to
note few short sentences from the
decision in the first North Dakota re.
ports:
The judgment in this case must
be reversed because the district !
court ad@lost jurisdiction of the
case at the time the judgment
was rendered. ~~
r. The Judgment must be re-
versed because, when it was rem
dered, the district court had lost
jurisdiction Of the case.
The action was pending in the
district court at the time of the
admission of the state into the
union. .. r. J:i.ilgus
j.stR At the time ofrthe admission
of the state into, the union. the
II action was pending in the district
court
The power of the state court is
destroyed and the Jurisdiction Of
the federal court attaches at once.
R. The power of the state court
is Invested and jurisdiction at
once vested in the federal court.
When a request for a transfer is
made the federal court instantly
becomes the perfect successor of
the territorial court, by mere
force of the statute.
r. When a request for trans
fer is made, by mere force OF the
statute, the federal court instant
ly becomes the perfect successor,
of the territorial court.
The title, of the federal court is
inchoatea before request, but when
s.. a request is made, its title AT that {
moment becomes complete .T1
R. Before request the title of
the federal court is inchoate, but
when a request Is made it's title
is complete. :.
The request is in itself the
death of the old jurisdiction and
the birth of the new. rst,
R. The request is in itself the
end of the old jurisdiction and the
beginning of the new. (Jurisdic.
ton has neither death or birth.) 81
Here is good specimen of bung.
ling sentence: IA
oQuWe will conclude this opiniona
s. byb saying sthat' it, behOoves thfs1t
court in deciding the firsts crim-i
inal case ever br0ughtB o2it for
review, and that case of homi- J
eide, not o>allow a prejudicial
charge upon the facts, such as we
conceive that in this case to have
been, to pass uncha1lenged and
thereby to become precedent. q
NJ D., 551.)
R. 1t behooves this court, in
deciding it's first criminal case, to
allow no prejudicial charge upon
the facts to pass unchallenged
and to become a precedent. M
You must not load down a sentence
like a beast of burden. You must not
put two or three sentences or clauses
between the subject and the predicate
You must see that the verb agrees
with asspbject in number and per.
son and that propositions govBrn the
objective case You must not say De
tween he and Tor between him and l.
for between him and me. No, SEN
tence is we'll composed unless It is
smooth, easily spoken and easily re-
membered.