Evening star., 1947-10-26
By Harold B. Rogers
Sior Stoff Correspondent

ton tour of the 3O-story United
States Courthouse here by a group
of jurists and architects from
Washington may result in embody-
ing in the new Federal building in
the Capital facilities for safer Gus
tody of prisoners and better work
ing conditions for the judiciary,
lawyers and public.
Several features Of the modern
New York structure were found so
desirable they may be incorporated
with adaptations to the Washing
ton building. Some faults in the
New York building were found how
ever, even by its users. These diff
ficulties pointed the way fo' plan
ners to avoid such mistakes in
Washington.
Important among the proposed
plans for workability in the new
courthouse in the Capital are ex-
pected to be:
l. Adequate accommodations for
jurors while waiting call to duty.
2. Acoustic treatment and public
address systems to avoid present
difficulty in hearing testimony.
Courtroom Redesign.
8. Redesign of the working part
of the courtroom. This would change
the seating and arrangement of the
witness box, jury box, and official
court reporter. In each courtroom
new press box is to be included.
The group from Washington plans
to get together soon to go over the
findings here, with view to per-
fecting plans.
The delegation included: AS
sociate Justice Harold M. Stephens
OF the United States Court of APP
peals, Chief Justice Bolitha J. Laws
and Associate Justice James M.
Proctor of District Court, Gilbert
Stanley Underwood, supervising
architect of the Public Buildings
Administration; James M. Lowe, de-
sign architect of PBA, and Louis
Justement of Washington, contract
architect for the courthouse.
Escorted BY Judge.
The group was escorted through
the courthouse here by Judge John
C. Knox, senior jurist of the Fed
eral Court for the Southern Dis
trict of New York.
Provisions in the New York build
ing to handle prisoners with greater
safety were found so practical they
probably will be used in Washington
to correct conditions which Chief
Justice Laws repeatedly has char
acterized as dangerous.
Prisoners are brought to the New
York Courthouse in vans and driven
into an enclosure on the ground
floor inside the building. A steel
door is closed behind the vans, be-
fore the vehicle doors are opened,
and the prisoners taken by deputy
marshals through corridors to cell
blocks.
Private elevators lift the prisoners
to courtroom floors above, and the
accused are brought to court through
private passageways, without ex-
posure in public corridors and with
out contact with the public.
Never Lost Prisoner.
eve have never lost prisoner
here" United States Marshal James
E. Mulcahy said as he pointed to
features of the escape proof system.
Justice Laws was impressed with
the superiority of the system over
the practice of walking handcuffed
criminals through the streets Of
Washington.
Furthermore, Justice Laws said, 1t
is being suggested that the United
States commissioner in Washington
be required to hold hearings inside
the new courthouse, instead OF IN his
office, which is several blocks distant
from the courthouse.
The Washington group visited the
office of the United States commits
sioner here, on the ground floor of
the. courthouse not far from the cell
blocks. While the United States
commissioner in Washington is not
a full-time official, but committing