The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1947-10-09

HAZEL
EYES

Men wanted: must De good c1u-
xen qualified electors preferably
intelligent, certainly fair minded.
Must not be habituul drunkords or
cumblers. Apply for jury duty in
Holmes County Circuit court, Cri-
minul Term, which opens Monday
morning at nine o'clock sh0rp at the
courthouse in Lexington. Special
JUDGE Arthur Jordan presiding.
Remuneration IL not high bat your
rewmd will come in knowing that
YOU are doing your duty On q free
citizen Of this great county and
stots.
Now Holmes County is not so bad
off yet that it has to advertise for
men to sit on its juries. The above
is not an advertisement for men
to come to Lexington for jury duty
/. but in our opinion it might be
a very fine thing If the good men
of this county would take more
seriously their responsibilities as
citizens and not shirk jury duty
when it falls their lot to be sum-
moned to court for jury duty.
It doesn't matter how good your
District Attorney and County At
torney are in securing indictments
against criminals, how good they
are in presenting the evidence
against criminals in court, UNLESS
you have the right kind OF men sit
ting in the jury box.
It doesn't matter how fair-minded
a Judge may be he can't sentence q
criminal unless the criminal is found
guilty by twelve good men.
Our leading citizens bemoan the
lowered standards in u court.
yet they themselves are, in many
instances, responsible for the fact
that our criminal courts are some
times laughingly referred to as
s'circus court" etc.
The good nGme Of Holmes County
demands that our citizens do not
shirk jury service any longer.
A shocking example Of the regard
in which our own Holmes County
court is held was seen Monday
morning in Lexington when the civil
term of Circuit Court opened.
OF all the men who had been
summoned for jury service there
were only enough to empanel the
Grand Jury and nine men on one
petit jury. The other three mel
on petit jury number one and al
twelve men on petit jury aumbe'
two had to be picked up" in thu
courtroom.
Perhaps this is not as importan
in the Civil term as it is in the Cri
minal term of court. But is easy Il
see where the danger lies in pickins
a jury from the "court room" i
could be a very lucrative business
If a not too scrupulous lawyer want:
to he could pack the courtroom with
his friends and stooges and get then
on the jury and it only takes
one man to tie up a jury. 1t is easy
to see the profit for the crimina
and the INSCRIPTIONS lawyers under
such a procedure. 1t is also easy te
see how the prestige and dignity o.
the court is lowered when known
guilty criminals are freed by juries
stacked with some questionable
jurors.
This is not to be construed as 9
reflection in any way upon any
member of the petit juries who were
picked up" in Civil Court Monday
These men did not even have to hear
a case for no cases were tried as II
turned out. We are merely pointing
out the danger of picking up" jul
rors from the courtroom and
especially when criminal cases are
to be tried.
All of the good citizens of Holmes
county want to see our courts respec-
ted by the public and feared by
criminals. They want to see crimi.
mails given a fair trial and dealt out
punishment in proportion to the
guilt Of their crimes. But our gooc
citizens cannot honestly expect Il
receive so much from the courts un
less they give the court their indivi'
dual cooperation by serving wher
called for jury duty.
Our Supervisors put the names o.
potential jurors on the rolls. We be
lieve that it would be a great service
to the courts of Holmes county on The
part of the Supervisors to revise
those rolls and sec to it that every
qualified Holmes County elector i
placed on the roll for jury service.
This may not be popular -. blu
it Is RIGHT. If we ere to enjoy tn
life of a free people we have oul
duties and responsibilities to dis
churqe as individual citizens.
We would like to ask our reader
to give this real problem a grea
deal of serious thought. If you vii
we feel confident that you will dis
charge the duties of responsible citi
zens and jury service Sinking vii
be no more in Holmes County.
This is National Business Women
Week. It is being observed by thou
sands of members of the Nations
Federation Of Business and Profes
11- AL--..L~x