Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-07-03
TEACHING Of JURY
DUTY IN COLLEGES
URGED BY JUDGES
BY FREDERIC j.. HAsKIN

ly returned a verdict of acquittal
which the trial judge denounced as
the most foolish verdict of which
he had ever heard. Another eminent
jurist complains that there is at the
present time an apparent unwilling
ness on the part of juries to convict,
especially to return verdicts calling
for the death penalty, and says that
the only possible explanation for this
!. is that it is a reaction in the jury
box of the general disregard for law
that seems to pervade the country.
In one criminal case it was found
necessary to summon $50 talesmen
before a jury of II could be secured
to try the defendant. In a civil case
involving the rights of a railroad
1900 talesmen were summoned.
These incidents and facts are cited
as evidence that something is wrong,
not with our jury system, but with
the way the system functions under
present day conditions. Men who are
studying the problem say that the
trouble lies with Mr.. Average Citi-
zen.
Most Americans who would fight
! for their right to a trial by jury,
WHICH, 1S SudEdAIGSo t1lCDl ny lllO
federal constitution, are exceedingly
reluctant to do their duty when some
one else invokes that right and they
are summoned to jury duty.
This aversion to serving on a jury
is sometimes due to dislike of as
Stunning the responsibility for set.
ting questions affecting the liberty
y or property rights of others. More
. 81 - N
average man has that he can not af-
!. ford to sacrifice the time jury duty
entails.
But whatever the excuse, jury
lodging has grown to serious pro-
Z portions, especially in the larger
! cities.
- The citizen who evades military
z duty when his country calls for
fighting men is denounced as a
Stacker and held in general con-
&. tempt. Citizens who can and do not
r,Svote at primaries and elections are
& being subjected to criticism almost
as harsh for their failure to dis
1charge the fundamental obligation
of citizenship, and now those who
\ eyade jury duty are coming in for
their share of opprobfum.
So Many Called, Few Chosen
Commissioner of Jurors Frederick
= O'Bryne, of New York, is authority
for the statement that in the five
counties comprising that city $4,000
men served on the various juries
other than federal juries. An equal
number were excused from jury
duty for legitimate reasons, and
more than 100000 were summoned
and examined before the $4,000 who
served were selected. The commits
sioner says that citizens of intelli-
gence and education know far more
about how to sidestep jury duty than
they do about performing it, or about
their obligation to perform it.
e His experience has led him to sug-
gest the ACCESSIBILITY of having
classes in jury duty in al colleges
and universities and the making OF
special drive to impress upon the
average citizen his responsibility for
upholding the jury system. Citizens
shrink from jury duty, he says,
largely because many of them are
not made to realize that it is an
honor and obligation of citizenship.
aonAThat is why rishould like to see
college students instructed in the
subject of jury duty" says Commits
sioner O'Bryne. MANY are called
who do not know what is required
of them. Students could be taught,
and there are many books which
they could read on what is required
of a juror.
.They should be made to realize
that the constitution of the United
States provides for the jury system
and that it is with us to stay. The
course should not b. one of occa-
sional lectures Int u constant lee
lures and recitations as in any 9TH
or college course. The student would
then emerge from college with
sense of citizenship that is not felt
by men who fail to appreciate the
necessity in the public interest of
their service in the jury box"
There are certain classes of citi-
zens who are exempt from jury duty
!. In most states, including clergymen,
physicians, dentists, pharmacists,
veterinaries, optometrists, attorneys,
teachers, editors, reporters, federal,
state, county and city officials, for
eign consuls, captains, engineers and
pilots of vessels, superintendents,
engineers and conductors on rail-
roads, election inspectors and clerks,
and all persons who are physically
incapacitated for jury service.
Flimsy Excuses Offered
Excuses that are offered in the
effort to avoid jury duty arc often
of the flimsiest character. Some
men seem to think that the mere
fact that they do not want to serve
is sufficient reason for their being
excused, while pressure Of business,
sickness in the family and sudden
calls out of town are always being
heard by the court.
Most men who have been arrested
for violation of the law are exceed
7 ingly anxious TO conceal that fact,
but when they think that it may
help them escape jury service they
I have been known to relate their
delinquencies eagerly if not pride
fully. And in this day and age of
the ubiquitous automobile and the
equally unhiquitious traffic cop it is
the rare individual who has not been
arrested at least once. However, ar
rests for speeding and similar viola
tions OF traffic regulations do not
suffice to keep a man out of the jury
box
The jury is the characteristic fea-
ture of English or common law, and
distinguishes it from the systems of
continental Europe derived from the
law of the Roman Empire. Original
ly juries were composed of all those
persons who had knowledge of the
subject matter. They were sum-
fnoned into court to state upon their
solemn oath what the common opin
ion of the neighborhood was as to
those facts which formed the basis
of the criminal charge to be tried,
or the basis OF the right to posses
sion or enjoyment of land or other
property which was at issue, such
being the tVnical cases of early DAYS.