Imperial Valley press., 1933-11-27
Editorial Page
and
Features
THE Law OF PUBLIC OPINION

1t is the solemn duty of a newspaper
to stand fast for law and order, to con-
demn defiance of the law and, above all,
to condemn occasions when the mob takes
the law into its own hands.
But, can a newspaper or any other in
stitution dedicated to respect for law
condemn the action Of a mob at San Jose
yesterday in taking two self-cOnfessed
slayers from the Jail by force and sum-
marily hanging them?
The answer must be in the negative,
for there is higher law than that which
is written into the statute books and that
law spoke and acted yesterday-lt Is the
great law of public opinion, which, even
though it may speak lrregularly, de-
mands and obtains, attention and re-
spcct.
The voice of public opinion, long silent
in California as regards the atroclouS
condition into which our criminal juris-
prudence has been permitted to slip, rose
up as it has been threatening to do tor
years and committed the awful deed IN
San Jose
But was it an awful deed? In COM
parison with the deed of the two on
whom the mob wreaked its vengeance it
was not awful Brooke Hart had COM
mitted no crime. He was a fine young
man, a distinct credit to the state to
whose protection he was entitled and
which he did not get. His slayers,
wanton and deliberate, were headed on
the same road that so many other Cal
ifornia slayers have trod = delayed
trial, strung over years in some cases,
and then nominal punishment.
Yesterdays action was more than the
lynching of two wretches. 1t was an in
dictment, trial and punishment of Cali
fornia law. 1t was the answer of public
opinion to the dilatory tactics of our
prosecutors and the leniency of our
courts; it was the answer to the out
rageous conduct of our state board of pa
role, which continually turns desperate
criminals loose upon the people with
practically no effort being made to force
adherence to the parole laws under
which they are released; it was the an
swer to the acts of a governor who mis-
takes sentimentality for mercy, dealing
out paroles, pardons and reprieves with
a lavish hand it was the answer to those
members of the legal profession who
forget they ever took an oath as officers
of the court and prostitute their talents
to circumventing the law instead Of up
holding it; it was the answer to weak
kneed citizens who fail in their duty as
jurymen, condoning crime by dealing
out light punishment; it was the answer
to the yellow press which throws a
halo of glory around the criminal; it was
the answer to the vicious motion picture
film which puts false value on the gang
ster and the racketeer in the minds of
our children and of our addle-pated
adults.
There will be some who will raise their
voices in protest against the San Jose
mob, growing righteously indignant at "a
black mark on the fair name of Califor-
MIA" They will be the same ones who
have meekly accepted and would continue
to accept the vile conditions into which
California law has been permitted to de-
generate, without making protest or
forcing correction. That is the real
black mark against California.
The righteous" will censure San Jose
officers for permitting the mob to take
its prisoners. Why should any police Of
ficer risk his life to protect pair whose
act had placed them outside the law?
Would any critic of the police do it? Not
a shot was fired at those bent on VEN
peanpp Can ono hi mo no1ica officprc