Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1925-09-25
HOW ABOUT STATE CoURTs9

partment of the Federal Council of
Churches state that prohibition in the
United States is facing supreme
crisis" Federal courts have been
clogged with cases against offenders
against the Volstead act and fitiga-
tion of magnitude and moment is held
up while infractions of the liquor
laws are being tried.
In the report of the Federal Coun-
Gil, referring to the Department of
Justice, it is stated that:
1.-THE department has suffered a
yeritable inundation of these (pro-
hibition) cases and has been some
what dismayed at the displacement
of other important work by an enor-
nous number of petty cases. The
preparation of cases by prohibition
agents has often been inadequate and
not a few cases have been lost or
nolle pressed because of corruption
or incompetence on the part of the
agents. Federal judges have COM
planned bitterly over the turning of
their courts into police courts, which
in some cases is an inevitable result
of enforcement of the Volstead act. ="
To relieve this inundation of fed
eral courts the buck has been passed
to the State courts, and save for the
gravest violations of the prohibition
laws, the states will assume the bur-
den of Furnishing Volstead violators.
In Virginia, the Mapp-Layman pro-
hibition laws parallel the national
statutes to an extent sufficient for the
trial of violators under the State
laws.
The point is, though, why should
Virginia courts be burdened with
moonshine cases which properly be-
long to federal courts?
Why should the Circuit courts of
the State be made police courts be-
cause of the congested condition of
the federal dockets?
Litigation in our Circuit courts,
relatively as important as that which
belongs exclusively to federal juris-
diction, is hampered, delayed and
dropped because of the great number
of prohibition cases docketed and
tried.
Time was when citizens had an
inherent and high respect for courts
and court procedure. The wisdom
of jurists and the justice of juries
was seldom if ever questioned. Men
learned in the law sat on the bench
and attorneys erudite and ethical
practiced at the bar. Then criticism
OF courts was almost reasonable, and
men whispered their opinions of the
bench.
1t is different now. The laws de-
lays have created an atmosphere
which is unhealthy and antagonistic
and no longer are the courts of the
land respected as they should be.
The Judiciary is the bulwark be-
tween order and anarchy, and chaos
would be the inevitable result of a
breaking down of this branch of our
government.
The causes for the change are
many and manifold but no one cause
contributes as much to the state of
affairs as the delays and the long
drawn-out litigation which marks
American court procedure.
The judiciary is just as honest to-
day as it ever was and seldom is the
probity of a judge questioned. But
the judge will be powerless to speed
up important cases if the transgres-
sors of the liquor laws are dumped
into the Circuit courts to relieve fed
eral congestion.
There should be some legislation
by which the conditions could be re-
lieyed and through which Circuit
courts could function for the trial of
cases which are more important than
those involving half pint of moon
shine liquor.
Why not have a criminal court
to handle this class of cases and other
misdemeanors and felonies, and leave
to the Circuit courts the hearing of
such litigation as was in their juris-
diction in the days of County courts
in Virginia.
Don't tie up Circuit courts with
moonshine cases.