The Southeastern Reporter Volume 75 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1912 Excerpt: ... Committee on Judicial Administration and Legal Reforms, adopted by the West Virginia Bar Association, at Its annual meeting held at Grafton this year, on the question whether or not the death penalty should be inflicted for any cause at the hands of the state, for the purpose of showing that the courts are considered, by the bar, to be largely responsible for the laxity that exists hi the administration of criminal justice, viz.: "The percentage of murders throughout this nation exceeds that of any civilized land. The figures are not at hand, but It is notorious that, not only Is the proportion of such crimes higher than abroad, but the proportion of convictions are fewer. The trouble with us is, not that the penalty is so severe, but that the guilty so often escape. The contrast between our country and England is very strong, both as to the rareness of crimes of blood and the certainty of the death penalty In murder of first degree" And, to show the impression made upon the legally trained mind of a highly cultured and closely observant Englishman, after sojourning for some time In the United States, and witnessing the way In which justice is administered In the courts of the various states, and comparing it with the administration of justice by the courts of his own country, I quote the following from James Bryce's "American Commonwealth," In his chapter on "State Judiciary," page 204, viz.: "All crimes, except such as are punishable under some federal statute, are justiciable by the state court; and it is worth remembering that in most states there exist much wider facilities for setting aside the verdict of a jury finding a prisoner guilty, by raising all sorts of points of law, than are permitted by the law and pract...