Accused Guaranteed A Speedy Public Trial By An Impartial Jury Of The Local District

I hope no one here this morning will ever be arrested for a crime of any kind, and yet, as I have already explained to you, the innocent are sometimes brought before the court charged with a grave offense. Therefore you should be interested in the investigation of the truth of any charge that may be made against you, whether by a private individual or by a public officer.

I have already explained to you that in all grave offenses when a person is charged with a crime, he cannot be brought before the court for trial until the grand jury has investigated the facts and until they have returned an indictment, or written charge, to the court. Until this is done, the court has no power to proceed.

But now suppose that you have been arrested, suppose that a grand jury has investigated the charge against you, has heard witnesses, and has returned an indictment. You are then brought up before the court, and the indictment is read to you. This indictment I will explain to you more fully later. When the indictment is read you are then required to say whether you are “guilty” or “not guilty”. If you have committed the crime charged, it may be advisable to plead guilty and ask for the mercy of the court in the punishment which he may impose. Courts usually temper justice with mercy. Courts will usually impose a lighter sentence when a guilty person pleads “guilty” and avoids the delay and expense of a trial. But, if you are innocent, you will plead “not guilty”, and then the government, through [pg 112] its officers, will get ready for trial. You may not be tried right away, as it usually takes some time to investigate the facts and get the witnesses into court. As I will hereafter explain, you will be entitled to an attorney when the time comes for your trial, when you will have a chance to hear the witnesses offered by the prosecution, introduce your own witnesses, and, under our present law, testify yourself, tell your own story.

If you will walk into a court some day you will see the judge and over at one side twelve chairs for the jury. When your case is called for trial the first thing will be to select the twelve men who will be the jury in your case. I am not going to give the manner of selection at this time. This will be fully explained later. I wish now to impress upon you the fact that the Constitution expressly guards your rights by providing that you shall be entitled to have your case tried, not before a judge, but by a jury composed of men from the ordinary walks of life, laborers, merchants, farmers, people of all classes; men just like your fathers are. They are called. They hold up their right hands and take an oath to try your case fairly and justly and to make a finding according to the evidence which is brought before them.

The Constitution provides:

“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and the district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law.”66

This is an absolute guaranty—a right which is given to you, given to each of you, to every man, woman, and child, young or old, regardless of color or creed. A trial without a jury would be a violation of your constitutional rights. Of course, there are a few minor offenses, misdemeanors, and violations [pg 113] of city ordinances, which are sometimes tried without a jury, but in all infamous crimes, for which life may be taken as punishment or for which a person may be sent to the penitentiary, every one is entitled to a trial before a jury.

Is not this a sacred right? Don't you think that it is wise to permit people to have their rights and wrongs determined by a body of plain, honest men? It removes any suggestion of the abuse of power by a person in a public position. It inspires confidence in those who are brought before the court for trial. If we cannot obtain justice before such a body of men, how can justice be obtained in this world?

I have already told you that in this country the people are not only the makers of the law but the enforcers of the law. It is in these jury trials where the people enforce the law.

Of course, the hearing before the jury is held in court. The judge presides. He directs the proceedings of the trial, sees that it is conducted in an orderly way, endeavors to prevent any falsehoods from getting before the jury, keeps away from the jury any hearsay or gossip, or expressions of prejudice, or other matters not founded on absolute knowledge and truth. But the jurors are the sole judges of what the truth is, and, when the case is closed, when the evidence has all been introduced and the attorneys have made their arguments and pleas, the members of the jury retire to a private room by themselves. There they discuss the evidence, come to some conclusion, make a finding of “guilty” or “not guilty”, and bring in their finding in the form of a verdict.

Have you also observed that the constitutional protection of your liberty not only provides for a jury trial, but also provides that it shall be a “speedy” trial. That is, one charged with a crime cannot without his consent, be locked up for weeks and months and years, as has often occurred in [pg 114] other parts of the world. He is entitled to be tried just as soon as the case can be prepared for trial, in justice to both sides. Cases are often postponed for many months, but only by consent of the accused. A case not tried at the second term of court will usually be dismissed except when the defendant consents to the delay.

The Constitution also provides that it must be a public trial. Oh! how many men in the long ago have been tried and condemned in private, where only a few enemies were present, where one's friends and neighbors could not hear the charges or the evidence. In this country the doors of the court room must be open. Any one has a right to enter and listen to the proceedings. The public has a right to know what is being charged against the humblest citizen, and what the proceedings against him are. Thus is justice guarded.

Then the Constitution provides that the trial shall be before “an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed.” This is important. We are not to be sent away among strangers to be tried. That is what they used to do long ago. That is one of the things which our forefathers complained of most bitterly. In the Declaration of Independence the colonies declared:

“He (the King of Great Britain) has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their acts of pretended legislation ... for depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury ... for transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses.”

When the Constitution was adopted the people made up their minds that nothing of that kind should ever occur again in free America. They were so careful that they went so far as to provide that the district where a trial shall be [pg 115] held “shall have been previously ascertained by law”. That is to say, that the place of trial, the county or district where it shall be held, must be fixed by law before the crime is committed. The courts or the legislature of any State cannot, after a crime is committed, pass a law providing that such a crime shall be tried in a district then to be named. The law must fix this in advance of the commission of any offense. For instance, without such a constitutional provision, a person who committed a crime in the State of New York might be taken to California to be tried. This would not be American justice. The accused would have the right to point to the Constitution of his country and demand that he should be tried in New York, and any court which would not grant this right would not only violate the oath which every judge takes before he undertakes to perform the duties of such office, but his unlawful conduct would perhaps result in his impeachment. The proceedings would be reversed by a higher court, and the party would be granted a new trial at a place and in accordance with his constitutional privileges.

Isn't it wonderful how the little details which may affect one's liberty were so carefully considered away back there when they were planning the Nation and establishing the rules which would guard the rights of the people?

[pg 116]

ELEMENTARY QUESTIONS

1. Why should all of us be interested in a trial?

2. Describe a court room scene.

3. Why is trial by jury a sacred right? What would it be like if we did not have this right?

4. How are jurors selected in your State?

5. Why is the trial to be held in the vicinity where the crime was committed? What would be the dangers of taking it far away?

6. Why should the jury be impartial?

7. If the accused person is guilty, why is it advisable to plead guilty?

8. Why is it impracticable to hold a trial immediately after the arrest of the accused person?

9. What is the first step in the actual trial?

10. After a jury is selected, what is required of them before the trial commences?

11. Why is a speedy trial essential to justice?

12. Why is it important that the trial should be public?

13. State some offenses that are sometimes tried without a jury.

ADVANCED QUESTIONS

A. Can the judge declare an accused man guilty?

B. How is trial by jury an evidence of the rule of the people?

C. Show how this benefits the poor man and the rich man equally.

D. Why are some trials delayed for many months?

E. What is the importance of the clause “shall have been previously ascertained by law”?

F. Discuss the relative role of jury and judge in a trial.

G. Write a paper on the following:

The Method of Selecting Jurors in Your State

Delay in Trial

The Injustice of Remote Trials

Trial by Jury vs. Trial by a Judge

The Procedure of a Trial From Beginning to End

[pg 117]