The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-08-03
WOMEN ARE NOT GOOD JURORS, IS
 JURISTS CLAIM
Judge With Heart And Not With Head, Says
 Talley

Judge Alfred J. Talley of the court of general sessions is emphatic on this subject. Here is one judge, while Op- posing women serving on juries, still gives only the most chivalrous and al truistic reasons for his opinion. A ''gentleman of the old school" he be- j lieves that woman is mans superior, not his equal. He does not think that the ladies-"God bless 'em"-are men tally incompetent to sit upon juries but he does, think that they should be protected from any unpleasant experi- ences that might cause them to neglect their domestic duties.
 Judge Talley is not afraid to voice his true thoughts on the matter of ladies of the jury. Other judges think of coming elections and politely mur- mur either that they have nothing to say or that business woman is just as good a juror as business man. Of course, they. declare, it is unfortunate that any woman should be made to hear some of the sordid details that come up in criminal trials but there is no req sch why women should not judge civil cases. Judge Talley, however, would not allow them to be jurors at all.
 'fWomen approach life's problems with their hearts, not their heads. the judge said. And I for one would not care to see them change. It is her emotional and sympathetic qualities which fit a woman for the creation and guardianship of home. Nature has decreed that woman is the mother of the race, and the laws of nature are more important than the laws of men. Women should be exempt from jury duty because the laws of nature have designed them for more important work.
 In Exceptional Cases
 "I grant that occasionally in an ex- ceptional case it is not demanded that the woman bear children and build a home, but natures law, like human law, is not made for the exception. also grant that some women may make better jurors than men-but that I consider uncOmplimentary to woman. Women in proving an inspiration to men can do more than by being mere talesmen.'
 "What do you think of woman having a right to be judged by a jury of women?" Judge Talley was asked.
 "I have heard that argument many times,' he answered, and it seems to me just as reasonable that man over 70 years of age. who could neither read nor write, should declare that jury who had the things he lacked, was not fit to judge him as his equals-as his peers. And as a matter of fact most women defendants would do anything rather than be judged by Il jury made up of women. It was the women on the jury who held out for the extreme penalty in the case of Clara Phillips No. can imagine few women criminals or defendants demanding a jury made up of her own sex.
 ''Women are temperamentally un- suited to jury duty Their hearts and not their minds dictate their judgments. For the same reason that women are, to Say the least, unprejudieed when they are judging other women, they are singularly kind to male defendants. Mothers whose young sons are on trial pray that there will be women on the jury. There was one case in Califor- mia of which I heard. A man was be- ing tried by & jury on which there was the woman said to her fellow-jurors, thewoman said to her fellow-jurors, He couldn't be guilty-lOok nt his beautiful hands!' That is the element which makes women the inspiration of romance and art, but it IS not a necessary ingredient in a courtroom.
 ''Is there any service which woman could make to the courts which would recompense her leaving her home and children to the care of servants or neighbors while she is on a case which necessitates her being locked up with other jurors during several nights? l doubt it. Domestic duty should em- brace the whole field of feminine en- deavor. A woman's responsibility in raising and caring for her family is more important than mandatory jury duty.
 Against Jury Duty
 More than one woman has rebelled against jury duty on the grounds that her health as well as her home was suffering. I remember a case that took place year ago in Trenton, N.-J. Mrs. James A. Cunningham desired to be excused from further jury duty, and her doctor declared she was threatened with a nervous breakdown as a result of being a member of two juries that were locked up overnight in one month. Mrs. Cunningham, who was excused from further service, was the mother of five children and her husband had to take care of them and of the home while she was on the jury. Mrs. Gun ningham in an interview declared that she thought jury duty was an assault upon woman's natural modesty, refine ment and reserve. Some cases, she said, were of such a delicate nature that any woman would shrink from a frank discussion of the evidence, and, of course, a just verdict was otherwise impossible.
 Another instance along the same line occurred in Atlantic City when a women's club signed petition sev- eral of its members had been forced to serve on a jury which was trying the negro proprietor of notorious road house which had been raided. The tes-