Evening star., 1946-03-17
ProceduruI Reforms
To Expedite Justice
Rules Revised to 'Streamlinc'
Federal Criminal Courts
By Rer Collier.

VaGl al III Null -
By Rer Collier.
A new era in criminal-case procedure
in the Federal District Courts will be
inaugurated next Thursday.
1t will be an era of strange but
welcome innovations. Ancient legal
istic mumbo jumbo long considered
essential in the drawing up of an indict-
| ment-perhaps to make them look
more formidable to the i,apless de-
fendant-is on the way out. In the
/ future he viii be able to understand
what he is charged with without neces-
sity of asking his lawyer for an in
| depreciation. The indictment will be
| in plain English-not the rambling,
| repetitive and confusing language ira
ditionally used in grand jury circles.
There will be a simplincation also
| in trial procedures In the interest of
accelerating the administration of
| justice, as far as may be consistent
with protecting the constitutional rights
OF the individual. Many Of the tech
nicalities which have cluttered the
criminal dockets with accumulations of
| postponed cases are to be swept away.
Senseless restrictions which have ham
pered the Federal courts in expediting
removal of defendants from one juris-
| diction to another in certain cases will
be eliminated. Some rights not hitherto
available to defendants will be ac-
corded them.
* II
All of these reforms will be achieved
under the new Rules of Criminal Pro-
cedure for the District Courts of the
United States" which will become ef-
fective here and throughout the Fed
eral District Court system on March
81. The revolution" had its incep-
tion some years ago in a series of dis
cussions at the Department of Justice
between the then Attorney General,
Homer S. Cummings, and one of his
assistants, Alexander Holtzoff, now a
District Court justice One Of Mr..
Cummings last acts as Attorney Gen.
eral was to recommend that the Fed
eral criminal court procedure be over
hauled and simplifled, as had been
done with civil court proceedings Later
an Advisory Committee on Federal
Rules OF Criminal Procedure was ap-
pointed, with Arthur T. Vanderbilt,
prominent New Jersey attorney, as
chairman, and Special Assistant Holtz-
OF as secretary. The task was a long
ana arduous one. In considering re-
forms, it was necessary ever to keep in
mind the constitutional rights of the
citizen to a fair and impartial trial,
as well as the right Of society to be
protected against the criminal.
When the committee finally had ar
rived at what it considered to be a
reasonably complete set of new rules.
drafts OF the proposals were submitted
to Federal judges, members of the bar
and other interested persons and
groups. The Supreme Court made some
revisions In the draft and then re-
quested the Attorney General to submit
the rules to Congress for It's inforna-
ton. This was done in January of
last year.
While it is difhcult to single out any
one OF the reforms as the most impor-
tant OF all contained in the new rule
book, there are four which those who
worked on the project regard as being
OF outstanding significance and as hold
Ing forth the most promise in the way
Of expediting the often-sluggish ma
chinery of justice.
First of these is the provision for
abolishing such indictment double
talk as is contained in this excerpt
from an actual grand jury finding in
a Federal District Court: THE grand
jurors Of the United States in and
for the district and division aforesaid,
duly einpaneled, sworn and charged.
at the term aforesaid, by the court
aforesaid. on their oaths, find, charge
and present that (here followed
l75-word description of the time and
place Of the crime) one A and
one did then and there knowingly,
willfully, unlawfully, purposely. delber-
ately, premeditatedly, feloniously, of
their malice aforethought. and with
the intent so to do, kill and murder
x, a human being, the said murder
being perpetrated in the manner and
form herein set forth by the said A
and B, then and there holding in their
respective hands certain respective pis-
tols. revolyers and small firearms, load
ed with powder and leaden, steel and
metallic bullets, being to the grand
jury unknown, and which said firearms
so held respectively by the said defend
ants, and B, they, and each Of them.
fired, shot and discharged at, towards,
against and into the body, abdomen,
chest and limbs of said x, thereby
mortally wounding him, the said X
=" and so on and on for another
$50 battling words.
Under the new rules this indictment
would say, simply: "The grand jury
charges that on or about (the date) in
the (place Of the crime), John Doe with
premeditation shot and murdered
Richard Roe"
Furthermore, the indictment may
be dispensed with altogether in favor
OF an information" If the defendant
is willing to waive indictment, but this
waiver does not apply in offenses pun
ishable by death.
The second outstanding reform is
the abolition of complicated and time
consuming pleas in abatement, demur-
rers. motions to quash and pleas in
bar, IN favor Of one all-inconclusive
motion to dismiss or to seek other ap-
propriate relief. This means an end
to the irterminable dragging olIt of