Evening star., 1947-01-28
Letters to The Star
Scott Case Prompts Proposal
for Medical Examiner

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The verdict Of coroners jury af-
firming that Scott's death was due to
natural causes rather than criminal
negligence comes as q relief to the
many friends and admirers OF DR.. A.
Magruder Macdonald, the District cor
oner A contrary verdict might have
been interpreted as an impeachment of
his insistence that the exceedingly rare
autopsy diagnosis, death from serum
shock, was not official whitewash OF
suspected police sadism.
Unfortunately, the inquest does not
entirely dismiss facts of record which
gave pause to the suspicion that Scott
received less than the minimum OF hui
name consideration for hts self-inflicted
condition of traumatic shock. This was
so apparent, even to a layman, that
Judge George D. Nelson, before whom
the prisoner appeared three times In
one day, took judicial notice of the
obvious and ordered the remedial treat
ment. True, there was nothing about
Scott.s miserable plight to command the
interdiction of any but those who con-
ceive of impartial justice and due proc
ess of law as the unqualified right of the
guilty as well as the innocent. Judge
Nelson so appraised the situation and
by his subsequent conduct made invio-
late justice more secure for all Of us.
The community owes him debt of
gratitude for taking judicial notice of
situation which, If ignored, would have
aggravated existing interracial tensions
and suspicious.
But the generating verdict does not
provide an effective remedy for the
basic issues raised by the Scott case.
The insistence of The Star that all
facts and disputed findings should be
given public hearing largely was re-
sponsible for the long-delayed inquest.
The Star took the sound editorial posi-
tion that there should be prompt pub
lie official inquiries in all violent deaths
or those where the finding of death
from natural causes was in any wise
questioned or challenged. The Star held
that such official inquiries should be
automatic and not discretionary with
the coroner. Had such an equitable rule
obtained, the Scott case would not have
been contributory to existing interracial
frictions and suspicious.
This writer would go a bit further
than The Star in advocating reforms In
our coroner system. Washington, D. c.,
is one of the last of the large metro
y>oJifon oroos u,hora thu ornhoic caro-
ner system continues to exist. For years
the American Medical Association has
campaigned to abolish the Office of cor
oner and to replace him with medical
examiner whose duties and functions
are those Of a medical expert rather
than an officer Of the court. This would
mean stripping the coroner of his con-
siderable judicial powers and preroga-
tives. The medical examiner would be
fuI-time job of qualified expert.
He impartially would report all the OBJ
tainable facts in medical evidence to
the court. As an impartial expert wit
ness, he would enjoy the full confidence
of the public which employed him and
the courts which weighed the facts he
presented.
Such recommendation is no dispar-
agement of the fine job as coroner that
DR.. Macdonald has done for the COM
munity. If any one conclusively has
proven that he can be both distin-
guished physician and a competent ju-
rist, Dr. Macdonald has done it. Scores
of doctors and hundreds of grateful
citizens will bear willing testimony that
his tact and understanding have made
death less of a tragedy. But the issue
is not one of public confidence in DR..
Macdonald. It is whether this Nations
Capital has outgrown the anachronism
of the coroneris system and is prepared
to return judicial powers to the courts
where they properly belong.
THOMAS E. MATTINGLY, M. D.
OnnoSee St EIizaheth's Transfer