Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-04-18
AS ONE WOMAN SEES IT
Some Reflections on Courtroom Man.
ners and the Amenities, or Their
Absence, Under the Modern
Jury system
BY SARAH u. LOyyRIE

a studio tea. and between suatches Of lively
conversation from our artist hostesses-wbo
continually disappeared into the gloom of an
attic and reappearcd bearing a few pieces
Of toast-she talked TO me about her cx-
pericnccs as u jurywomnn.
She had accomplished only three days Of
the three weeks for which she was drawn II
think drawn is the technical tcrm---but
she felt quite initiated enough to have opin
ions that is. to generalizc a little.
Her three most explicit gcneralizations
we're that every case tried 80 far had had
perjurer as one Of the witnesses that the
lawyers show very keen psychology in their
choice Of jurors; that out of every gathering
Of hundred or so citizens drawn TO act on
iuries there were enough Of every type of
mind materially to affect the decision of n
case; /. c., enough intelligent progressive
persons or conservative timid persons or
stupid prciudiCed persons or cunning resent
full persons or careless haphazard persons to
form a sympathetic series of biased groups.
Tn OBSERVING the trials during the
L three days she had been in court she
had begun to comprehend why certain per
sons were discarded by the lawyers for
the defense or chosen, and why the oppos
ing lawyer made a sort of deal by agreeing
to certain others as suiting his purposes.
Her experiences in the courtroom, after
herring the line of defense or accusation
adopted to fit the jury's mentality. was fur
ther ampifed by the reaction of the jury
after it was shut up to discuss the verdict.
She felt that in most cases the lawyers
had shown considerable acumen in sizing up
the jury. 1t struck mo that she even felt
that for certain cases, whether the jury
found for or against the plaintiff, the oppos
ing lawyers could in sense unite on q Ger
tain type of jury that would be sympathetic
with the general subject
Her less pronounced reactions to the cx.
perience were that the lawyers wero rather
rough with the witnesses and that there was
IL. l...1I.
dation. That is. certain timid. vacilating
brains we're frightened into states Of ac-
Quicscencc by the tone of voice and the
surly manner of the QuestioDer.
II struck her that once the judge based
his rulings on experience not quite under
standable by those present as, for instance.
when the testimony of two policemen was
astonishingy Mt variance to that Of wit
ness for the other side in suit against the
city for injury sustained because Of an OBJ
StruCtion on the sidewalk. The witness for
the injured one averred the pipe had pro-
truded half foot above the pavement at
the time Of the accident; the police testified
that it was level with the pavement then
and forced upward by the frost later.
The judge gravely opned that such honor
able employees of the city as the police could
not be regarded by the jury as biased in
their testimony by the fact that they were
employees. A tribute to the, police that
found no echo, apparently. in the jurymen's
hearts, 10 judge by their sghs and groans.
CHE was surprised that when they were
~ once locked into the room for their deci
sion they did not fall at once TO deciding.
Instead, they sat about on any chairs handy,
avoiding the table and its chairs. and con-
verscd in low tones on variety of subjects.
Every now and then the foreman would ask
uncertainty or dutifully or impatiently--it
depended on his temperament-what they
wanted to do about IL, and for time the
tnl tho would hrsL ~
almost general. only to drop back into group
talk Of this and that. When the vote was
taken and retaken it seemed to be not so
much a common agreement as common
willingness not 10 disagree. Some of the
jurors never voiced an opinion, but sat like
sleepy birds until their vote was demanded.
They then asked what the count was and
apparently went automatically with the
majority.
One man announced he always voted for
the workingman and was quite docile while
those about him weighed the pros and cons as
10 which of the opposing parties meritcd
that description
THE room in which the jury was confined
l. contained n water cooler to which was
chained an agate cup, which did duty for all
the brave males but for neither Of the two
fair ones. who went thirsty from fear of the
consequences. OF course, after the first
pcrience they brought their own paper cups.
On one of the days. az they were being
marched two by two under guard TO be shut
up, one of the jurymen rccollccted that he
had left his hat behind him in the court
room, and left the line of march to retrieve
It. When the police officer arrived at the
door and hcrded in his jury and discovered
the twelfth one missing he was seen to turn
quite green. He locked the door on the
eleven and went forth to find the lost one,
who proved lost indeed as, having found his
hat. he left the courtroom by another door
and wandered about quite without a clue as
to where to go next
The policeman had not the faintest idea of
what he looked like and did not want to be-
tray the fact that he had lost him. SO he
mad rather bad time Of it and was in no
humor TO receive the laughter Of the eleven
when he finally rounded up the wanderer
and showed him into the jury room.
r GATHERED that the court officials who
L herd the jury TO and fro, and who are
generally in evidence. are not particularly
suave Something of the atmosphere of the
prison hangs about the court for all except
the lawyers and the judge" Neither the wit
uesses nor the jury seem TO be treated as
honored guests. Yet the pay-S3 a day
ran scarcely be sufficient to obscure
the fact that both jury and witnesses are
there fulfilling a patriotic duty, and none tn"
! less q duty nor less patriotic because they
! are compelled by law to appear.
/ 7 WAS struck by the sort Of asperity of
| i the court officials once when was pres
| ont simply as spectator. 1t was many
| years ago. during strike in some sweat
| shop faCtoricS--now fortunately nonexistPnt
! So far rs sweating gOcs.-and some OF the
! girls on strike had been arrested as pickets
| interfering with tho now hands by what the
| owners called intimidation and what the girls
called argument, | had been asked, with
! som" twenty other women, to go TO the court
| to show the judges and the jury that the
more conservative element of the town had
sincere interest in seeing justice done.
sat with the sympathiHers of the girls
| Russian Jews mostly and viewed the pro-
! ceeding with great interest heightened some
what BY the fact that ! had sat next one Of
the judges ut dinner the night before and
had found him very slow lin the uptake'' on
ordinary subjects, whilc of the other two on
tho bench, one passed the collection plate to
| me each SUNDAY and the other was sort of
Il standby beau Of an elderly set
In fnCt. had no Ycry rGNCrent nnininn Of