Evening star., 1929-06-26
Criminal Procedure.

CRIME III Tie OIl4tSu otuVSos ." AAoS1
been said facetiously, has a ''perma-
nent wave" Until the millennium ar
rives there will be crime in any ma
ton. But crime and lawlessness are
not assets. They are distinct liabilities,
and very properly the Hoover admin
istration is seeking measures to reduce
crime and lawlessness in America.
There are those who say pessinlis-
tically there is no hope for the United
States: that things are going from bad
to worse. particularly in view Of the
continued violations of the prohibition
laws. Indeed, they seek to blame en-
tirely the prohibition laws for crime
and lawlessness In this country. AS
matter of fact, however, both were
far too rampant long before the dry
laws were written on the books. One
reason given for the increase in crime
in this country has been the facility
with which criminals are able to escape
the penalties imposed by law for law
breaking. William Howard Taft, now
Chief Justice Of the United States, at
a Yale Law School commencement al
most twenty-five years ago and many
years before national prohibition was
foremost In the public eye, said:
st gricve for my country to say that
the administration of the criminal law
in all the States (there may be one or
two exceptions) is disgrace to our
civilization the trial OF a
criminal seems like a game of chance
with all the chances in favor of the
criminal; if he wins he seems to have
the sympathy of the sporting public"
England very frequently is pointed to
as law-abiding country, an example
which America should strive to emulate.
But it is only within modern times that
England has had such reputation Tor
prompt dealing with crime and, on that
account, q much smaller criminal class.
Many of the faults Of the system oi
criminal justice in the United States
are traceable to the legal institutions
inherited from Great Britain IN colonial
times. In England in the last quarter
Of the eighteenth century the crime
rate was high. To meet the situation
drastic laws were passed by the British
Parliament. At the time Of the signing
of the Declaration of Independence
there were one hundred and sixty-four
capital felonies written into the Eng
lish law. Criminals were executed by
the carloads. The effect Of these facts
was to bring about conspiracy Of
English judges and juries to protect and
save men, women and children from the
penalties prescribed for their offenses
The growth of technicalities in the lower
courts was tremendous-tec echnicalities
intended not only to protect the inno-
cent but also to relieve the guilty from
paying penalties considered unjust and
barbarous. These technicalities the
United States inherited from England
In later days the development oi
court procedure in England has beer
| very different from that in the United
States. In England many of the tech
nicalities which grew up for the reasons
already given have been cast aside, fol-
lowing a drastic revision Of the laws
which did away with cruel and bar.
barous penalties.
In the United States, despite the fact
that barbarous penalties have not beer
provided for by law, technicalities have
been on the increase. The procedure In
the American court of laws due to such
technicalities has become in many in.
stances farce, enabling criminals who
should pay the penalty to escape. These
| technicalities tie the hands Of justict
and the judges. They place weapons ot
defense in the hands Of lawyers ant
criminals.
If the Hoover Crime Commission car
devise system of judicial procedure FOL
this country, stripping technicalitiei
from the present procedure, it will hav'
accomplished a great deal toward re
ducing lawlessness In this country. Th'
penalties imposed by law are designed
to prevent violations of the law, an.
where they are imposed they do reduce
lawlessness in large measure. Wher
they are not imposed the law is f1outed
!
Some of the "beality contestants