Evening star., 1924-06-04
A Crisis for Justice

It is indicated in dispatches from
Chicago that the counsel for the de.
fense of the two youths who are ac'
cused of not only one but several muir
ders of an atrocious kind. and other
crimes, will pursue a. policy Of defense
on the plea of insanity which is plain
iy, if the confessions they have made
are genuine, the only possible re-
course. 1t is also stated that efforts
will be made to delay trial as long as
possible, to allow the public feeling
over the crimes TO abate. possibly TO
permit some other sensation to inter
vene to distract public attention.
In view of the enormous resources
available for the defense Of these as
founding young criminals. a fear i'm
mediately arises in the public mind
that this case will be dragged out for
many months. The courts Of this
country are notoriouSly slow in the ad-
Ininistering of justice. Much feeling
prevails that crime is fostered by the
delays that occur in the bringing Of
indictments and in the trials Of even
f1agrantly guilty people. Mistrials and
retrials on appeal are numerous. 1t
has often happened that the perpetra.
tors of abominable crimes for which
there is no valid defense remain un-
punished for several years because
their financial resources enable them
to take advantage of technicaiities.
1t is in no spirit Of vengeance that
demand is expressed for promptness
in the disposal Of these Chicago cases.
There is no issue OF fact except as TO
the multiplying of the crimes COM
mitted by these young men. II in
sanity is the plea an issue OF Judgment
will be precipitated, with doubtless a
long list of experts testifying on both
sides for the state and for the defend
ants. The issue will turn upon whether
these lads were at the time Of the
commission of these crimes incapable
of distinction between right and
wrong, were irresponsible by reason
Of mental unbalance, sufficiently to
warrant their acquittal.
The purpose Of punishment is to
warn others, to prevent them by hor.
rible example from committing crime
In New York today a condition pre-.
walls that is shockingly dangerous to
the public welfare. Owing to the
leniency OF juries and the tardiness
of the courts, and tho difficulty of get
ting dependable witnesses who are not
afraid to testify, many nurderers are
escaping justice. It was recently COM
puted that within a certain period out
of twenty-eight capital offenders only
one was given the death penalty, the
remainder escaping with second-degree
convictions, or man slaughter verdicts,
or remaining unindicted or untried.
The actual terms Of Imprisonment i'm
posed in the cases Of those convicted
of less than first-degree murder, TAX
ing account of the deductions for good
behavior, averaged about five and a
half years. >
This situation is regarded as a posi-.
tive invitation to crime. One of the
Chicago slayers exclaimed after con-
Tossing that he would probably get a
couple of years in the penitentiary,
which would be the making of a man
Of him. He had evidently taken cour-
age from the trend of court penalties,
though, Of course, utterly lacking IN
any conception of the magnitude and
gravity of his own offense.
If the thought is entertained by the
counsel for the defense in these Chi
cago cases that public interest in the
case will wane, it is wholly erroneous.
For this case is regarded by the coun-
try at large as Of importance, as an
evidence of a shocking tendency on
the part Of the youth Of America to
ward criminality and debauchery.
Whenever the case is tried, whatever
the delay that may be secured through
strategy and the lavish use Of money
for investigations" it viii attract and
hold the attention Of the entire coun-
try.
A crisis in the evil of judicial delay
Is reached with this abominable crime,
and the public is demanding now a
showing of speedy justice.