The Topeka state journal., 1922-06-24
Justice Juds0r S. West
of Kansas Supreme Court
POkes Fun at State LouOs
In His New Book practical Law Made Plain, Justice
West Has Compiled Volume of Law for the Common
Man-Says Present Laws Are Intricate and Technical

self and see how soon you Will get lost
Why. you world not even know how to
begin to look for the law on your sub
! ject."
\ Whole Lot of Bunk.
In his chapter on How the Courts
Work" Judge West calls the Hear
We. hear We. near yei The honorable
District Court of - County is now
in session a SILLY and needless lOt
of stuff TO get off" and in other in
stances good -humoredly knocks some
/ of the customs and forms connected
with tho courts
7 He details the difference between
the higher or appellate courts where
! the lawyers have briefs-why briefs
nobody knows, for they are often as
[ long as Methuselah's beard'-and the
District and Circuit Courts.
For long time it was fashionable
/ to scOurge courts generally and to de-
mand the recall of decisions and to
make great clamOr about judicial
usurpatiOn and failure to act sensiblv
and practically" he concludes. 'AH
/ the fault finders have come to the
{ conclusion that courts are like women
If We can't get along with them,
We can't get along without them-and
1 that It is better to suffer the evils
that they are than to fly to anarchy
that we know not of.
1T should also be remarked out of
/ Difference to truth and candor that in
the meantime the judges have taken
a new hitch and thrown overheard a
4 whole lot of technical plunder that
never had any excuse for its existence,
and have permanently assumed lucid
! intervals with regard to the avoidance
| of microscopic distinctions that belong
to inseCtivora and not to jurispru-
dence'
Criminal law Judge West considers
on the whole fairly just. 1T is very
kind in one respect" he says "It
! presumes everybody innocent until
proved guilty, and assumes however
violently, that all men are honest and
act honestly He recites as further
advantages for the defendant the facts
that the latter may plead for himself
and that he is furnished an attorney
by the state if he is too poor to hire
one
Circumstances Can't Lie, But Men
He takes vigorous dig at the
grand jury system, and declares that
( 1T is pretty well run out"
1T is expensive, cumbersome and
archaic" he insists Besides, it
breeds a tendency for every scalawaE
who gets a spite at some one to sneak
in before the grand jury and try to
get an indictment found. for the vic
tim has no notice or chance to be
heard. and an indictment against an
innocent man may work irreparable
harm.
"An the clack and howl that any
body can go scott free if he has the
money" he continued, has beer
proven false so many times that it is
wearisome to say so. but the records in
any penitentidry Will fully refute this
habitual SANDER on our system of
criminal procedure"
Judge West explains why evidence
must be competent. relevant and ma
teria1," and differentiaJes very simply
between the best evidence and other
kinds Circumstantial evidence he
judges to be worth more than is
usually granted.
There seems to be a prevalent no
ton that no man ought to be con-
victed on circumstantial evidence" he
points out. The rule of law is that
in order to convict on such evidence
all the circumstances must be con-
inconsistent with any other reasonable
theory. The truth is that circumstan-
tial evidence may be the best and most
convincing of ALL
"Circumstances cannot lie. but men,
and even women. have been known to
prevaricate."
Letting Down the Bars.
Regarding the constant objections to
evidence that are made by lawyers
during trials, Judge West remarks
"Elihu Root. at meeting of the
American Bar association, a few years
ago, excoriated our hide-bound rules
Of evidence and told the lawyers to
90 home and enter into a sort of gen.
uemen'S agreement not to raise the
usual objections. but to let witnesses
so ahead and tell their stories some
what as they do in France and thus
work out of the rut when the
worlds leading lawyer said it every
body took notice. and the trial judges
doubtless wished they had it in their
power to more fully help the good
work along"
He hastily adds that all the bars
must not be let down. NO" he de-
clares. "a mans life, his liberty or
his fortune should not be put in
jeopardy by a lot of incoherent chat
ter or the spread of mere gossip"
In a similar manner, in his chapters
on contracts. negotiable Instruments
principal and agent, pleading, real es-