The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1927-04-29
HADDoN GRAY

scribe IL BARRIERS, whose only
knowledge of surgery is cutting hair,
to operate on a dying patient, instead
of trusting his life to a great surgeon
like Mayo. of Rochester, or an A.
Hyman, Of Mt. Sinai. And why, by
the same principle, shouldn't the
sum Of the skill of the IL BARRIERS
scissors be equal to the sum OF the
surgical scalpels of a Mayo and an
A. Hyman?
Spiritual Patients. He Says
To US, we look upon these IL very
fine citizens but poor judges. Judd
Gray and Ruth Snyder have as much
chance for their lives as the dying
man with the IL BARRIERS might faG 0.
We don't blame the IL BARRIERS. We
blame the system that turns barb' .
over night into great surgeons a I'd
bartenders into great judges.
In the broadcast analysis, . crI H.
nal Is nothing but q spiritual patieilt,
spiritually sick. IL he has committed
the most terrible Of crimes, Il only
means that he is fatally sick, and,
therefore, needs the finest kind Of
spiritual attention. With no offense
to the IL amateur judges. what is
their cultural equipment for the task
before them? We noticed that the
district attorney explained to them
the word dubious by substituting
the nearest synonym. just as all
doubts sound alike to them, so. all
crimes. All murderers must be sent
to the chair. 1t would never occur to
them that some should be sent to 3
hospital.
BY this we do not mean that
Judd Gray and Ruth Snyder should
not be punished il guilty. A GER
tain amount of punishment Is good
even for the innocent. Punish
ment cleanses. 1t is the spiritual
Carlsbad for us, and we would
prescribe it for a month for the
best Of us. We do not see, how
ever, any earthly or heavenly good
In extreme punishment. IL Ii not
a deterrent, Extracting another
mans tooth does not relieve the
pain of mine, nor does it make 1t
behave.
Good on Jury'S Faces
As we are scrutinizing the
jurors faces, we can see nothing
but good written in them. Some
have very strong features; some.
bit weak. Most Of them look as
il they never even had 50 much as
a quarrel with anybody. ana had
never seen the inside of q court
before. So far IL of them have not
even seen the outside Of a divorce
court: Happily married men. That
may not be compliment to them
as men, but it is as good citizens.
But mere good citizens cannot
be competent judges of this crime.
They, will take good care Of the
interests of the People. but am
afraid it will be impossible for
them to safeguard the rights of the
accused.
Being respectable married men.
they probably have never heard Of
the psychology of sex insanity"
And If there is anything we know
about Ruth and Judd, we are sure
that they were ''sex crazy"
The jury will figure out the facts
and the evidence in the case by the
conventional, moral multiplication
table. 1t is q sound and safe multi
plicatiOn-t table, but 1t is often very
inadequate when applied to the
more complicated abnormal forces
that n1Otivate some lives, such as
those Of Ruth Snyder and Judd
Gray. In such q case, IL IL neces-
Sary to take q BROADER, more liberal
and even an icOnOcIastic view OF life
than the standard moral weights
and measures permit. That our
Jurors will not and cannot do, be.
cause they are the sort of people
who think IL they didn't sena Ruth
Snyder and Judd Gray to the chair,
IL they are guilty, no husband would
be safe with his wife.
Keyhole Light Is Negligible
When they enter the celebrating
room, they will Judge the case by
their own crude conventional under.
standing Of life, trying to be fair,
but unable to widen the narrow key
hole through which they have been
peeping at life. It will be impossible
for them to see the light: Very little
light can filter through a keyhole.
The jury system not only re-
quires Of the jurors no profound
knowledge of any kind, but it for.
bids them to acquire any during the
trial. Think how much light about
SO of the finest minds that the
press have engaged are shedding on
the case! The jury is not allowed
to receive any. They must judge
in the darkness of their own
craniums.
Since We & must have, trial by
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