If guilty, sentence is pronounced by the judge, usually Sentence. without delay, the court having discretion as to the advisability of giving the convicted party the maximum or the Baldwin, minimum punishment provided by the law for crimes of Am. No American can well be proud of failures in 244-247. that class. our courts to treat alike all offenders - great or small or Judiciary, oner at Bar, 261-278. their inability or unwillingness to punish accused persons Train, Priswhose guilt is unquestioned. One of the greatest reforms needed in America to-day is a remedy for defects in the administration of justice. THE JURY SYSTEM 81-101. 108. Juries and Jurymen. -Juries are of three kinds. Kinds of (1) Grand juries, which are composed of from twelve to juries. twenty-three men, hold secret sessions, and either investigate the causes of crimes that have been committed, bringing Train, Prisindictments against those they believe guilty, or investigate oner at Bar, the condition of the departments of government and their expenditures of money. (2) The petit or ordinary jury of twelve men settles most civil disputes and decides criminal cases. (3) The police jury consists of six men and determines the guilt or innocence of persons accused of committing misdemeanors. When any of these juries serves for the entire term of a court, they are known as term juries; otherwise they are special juries. serve on juries. Only citizens are allowed to sit on juries. On account of Who may the inconveniences of jury service, practically all professional men are exempt by law from jury duty, and on account of the annoyance caused by being taken from their business, most of the other prominent men of the community shirk jury duty as far as possible. In some States, juries are "drawn" from a list of those liable to service, and a sum mons served upon those chosen to appear at court, on a certain day. In other States jurymen are selected by jury policemen, who serve the summons on those whom they find on the streets or at their places of business. Civil suits. Criminal cases. Baldwin, Advantage to accused. Train, Prisoner at Bar, 169-177. 109. The Extensive Use of the Jury System. The credit for maintaining so satisfactorily the rights of individuals before the law in England and America belongs, to a very great extent, to the jury system. When popular participation in the work of government was much less common than at present, when judges could not possibly be influenced directly by the wishes of the people, and when the principal characteristic of the criminal laws was their harshness, the right of trial by jury was almost the sole source of justice for the common people. With the changed conditions of the present, it is no longer the one thing indispensable to the oppressed, but its extensive use bears witness that its value is not purely historic. Although jury trial may be waived with the consent of both parties in suits at law, and although certain suits which deal with complicated matters are tried without juries in courts of equity, nevertheless the decision in the great majority of important civil suits tried in the United States still rests with juries composed of citizens. In criminal cases, jury trial may not be required by the defendant, but, in trying persons for misdemeanors, or minor crimes, it is customary to have juries, while in cases where the crime amounts to a felony, the guilt of the accused is always determined by a jury.1 110. Advantages of Jury Trial. — Juries are an advantage both to the accused and to the juryman. To the former, because the facts connected with his guilt and innocence are viewed from the standpoint of common sense rather than of law. The jury disregards technicalities, but places the emphasis upon the right or wrong involved. It takes into account the circumstances, the motive, and the conse 1 Nevada, California, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Montana, and Nebraska do not require a unanimous vote to render a verdict in civil suits, and four States allow 8 to 10 members of the jury to decide cases involving minor crimes. In all of the other States an unanimous vote of the jurymen is essential to a verdict. quences, so that if it errs at all, it errs on the side of leni ency. Train, Pris To the citizen, the jury gives opportunity for civic edu- Benefits to cation. It brings him into touch with the work of admin- jurymen, istering the law, and makes him part of it; and, in so doing, gives him clearer conceptions of legal rights and methods, oner at Bar, and fits him to exercise his duties as a citizen with greater 158–161. knowledge and to better purpose. In defects. Mod. Pol. Train, Prisoner at Bar, 205-223. 111. The Disadvantages of Jury Trial. The main ques- Abuses and tion is whether these advantages are worth what they cost, whether they apply to all forms of jury trial, and whether they are not, after all, but partially secured on account of Baldwin, the numerous exemptions from jury duty. Certain it is Institu that the exemption of professional men, and the frequent tions, refusals of attorneys to accept as jurymen men who have 117-140. formed opinions regarding the case to be tried, have given rise to a popular belief that only the ignorant are desired as jurors a belief not well founded in most localities. any civil case involving knotty problems of law, the ordinary juror is almost of necessity incompetent to render a just decision, while in a lawsuit or criminal case where a strong appeal can be made to the emotions or to prejudice, the jury is likely to be unduly influenced in its verdict. The fact that a lawyer who has a weak case almost invariably asks for a jury trial is an indication that the jury errs often on the side of leniency. In short, unrepresentative of the communities as our juries must be under present conditions, they often defeat the ends of justice, in civil suits, through their ignorance, and, in criminal cases, through their prejudice. General References Hart, Actual Government, pp. 151–166. Bryce, The American Commonwealth, abridged ed., pp. 347–355. Willoughby, Rights and Duties of American Citizenship, pp. 94–109. Train, The Prisoner at the Bar. |