| Popis: |
The problem of the jury has now for some time past been confronting us. We must admit that this institution of popular justice, as it functions today, has not received adequate public discussion. Opinion is divided between preserving and abolishing it wholly; but all insist upon its reform. To put an end to the scandal of excessively indulgent verdicts, and to remove what has been called "the crisis of the jury," seems to be a necessity. This presents a problem of capital importance for the administration of justice and the suppression of crime. The appeal to sentiment cannot solve this problem. Here as elsewhere the debate is liable to prolong itself indefinitely, unless we seek to avail ourselves of the lessons of experience, that great teacher, implacable but trustworthy. It is the experience of various countries, acquired sometimes at a high cost, that will show us what alterations have been made and what remedies or reforms will be effective. We can profit from these lessons by adapting their warnings to our own habits of mind and institutions. |
