One of the most efficient, effective, and important criminal courts in the civilized world is that established for the trial of misdemeanors in New York County. Three judges, each having an equal voice, act as arbiters of both law and fact. Originally this bench was filled by three regular police magistrates sitting in rotation, and in many cases the same judge before whom the prisoner had been arraigned in the first instance assisted in determining the final question of his guilt or innocence. But the old Court of Special Sessions acquired a very unsavory reputation for many reasons, the chief among them being its alleged susceptibility to political influence and the looseness with which its funds were handled, and it was finally legislated out of existence in 1895. Then a new court was created composed of three justices who, while they had the powers of police magistrates, did not sit in magistrates' courts, but devoted their entire time to the trial of misdemeanors. In the last eight years this court disposed of 65,579 cases, in which 40,894 persons were convicted of crime, either by trial or by plea of guilty. During the year 1907 alone 13,140 cases were disposed of, in which there were 7,960 convictions. The judges in this huge mill of justice rarely make mistakes, and few appeals are ever taken from their decisions. They have become, by virtue of long experience, experts in fact, and the training thus received has qualified several of them for higher office.[22]
As the reader is already aware, a defendant charged in a magistrate's court with the commission of a misdemeanor, say that of petit larceny, is given an immediate hearing, and, if there be reasonable ground to believe him guilty, is held for trial in the Special Sessions. The information or affidavit, to which the complaining witness has sworn and which contains a more or less succinct account of the facts alleged against the prisoner, is thereupon forwarded to the clerk of the court and in due course the defendant appears, if he be on bail, or is brought from prison, if he be in confinement, to "plead." This information, which is the basis of the proceedings against him and which is practically the only record in the case, is commonly called the "complaint" and corresponds with the indictment found by the grand jury where the defendant is charged with the commission of a felony.
After the prisoner has entered his plea, if he be in prison, he is given a trial almost immediately; if not, his case will probably come up within a week or two. The offences over which these three judges have jurisdiction are as many and as diversified as human ingenuity and the demands of modern civilized life, qualified by ineffective legislation, have combined to make them.
As might be expected, petty larcenies and assaults furnish together more than thirty per cent of the cases tried. The following table will show the more numerous and important offences for which defendants were held in 1907 for the Special Sessions and their relative proportions:
| Petit larceny | 2,890 |
| Assault, third degree | 2,097 |
| Maintaining a disorderly house | 674 |
| Carry concealed pistol | 988 |
| Cruelty to animals | 887 |
| Failure to provide for minor | 235 |
| Possessing obscene prints | 124 |
| Malicious mischief | 111 |
| Indecent exposure | 84 |
| Unlawful entry | 93 |
| Adultery | 11 |
| Adulterated milk | 252 |
| Impure food | 80 |
| Possessing burglars' implements | 35 |
| Offence against trade-marks (364 P.C.) | 6 |
| Violation Liquor Tax Law | 2,109 |
| Violation Motor Vehicle Law | 2,709 |
| Violation Sanitary Code | 321 |
| Violation Labor Law | 176 |
| Violation Medical Law | 48 |
| Violation Dental Law | 16 |
| Miscellaneous | 1,122 |
| ——— | |
| Total | 15,068 |
A spectator may in the course of a morning hear thirty or forty cases actually tried in which the charges cover almost every conceivable kind of sin, wrong, or prohibition. One prisoner is being prosecuted for assaulting a non-union workman, another for maintaining a public nuisance, another for a violation of the Liquor Tax Law, another for practising medicine without a license; a dozen cases will be rapidly disposed of wherein the defendants are charged with shoplifting or "illegal entry" (a charge frequently lodged against a suspected burglar who has made an entry without a "break" and has been caught before he has accomplished his purpose); others still will be tried for carrying concealed weapons, publishing or possessing indecent literature, violating trade-mark laws, breaking speed ordinances, or "malicious mischief"; while, if the student of institutions be patient, he may be rewarded by the exciting spectacle of one who is defending himself against the charge of selling skimmed milk, holding a mock auction, driving a spavined horse, writing a threatening letter, making a fraudulent assignment, pawning borrowed property, using a false weight, opening another's letter, keeping a cow in an unhealthy place, running a cock-fight, misrepresenting the circulation of a newspaper, divulging the contents of a telegram, impersonating a policeman, adulterating food; or, provided he be exceptionally fortunate, may hear the trial of a celebrated actress for her impersonation of "Sappho," or of a manager for producing "Mrs. Warren's Profession."
He will see every conceivable type of man, woman, and child, either as defendant or witness, and he may also study every variety of human failing or weakness. No mock defence or prepared lie can deceive these argus-eyed judges; short shrift is made of the guilty, while the "reasonable doubt" is recognized the instant it puts in the most furtive appearance. In fact defendants are often found guilty or acquitted almost before they are aware they are on trial,—and this with no detriment to them or to their cause.
The advocates of the abandonment of the jury system point to this court as their strongest argument. No time is lost in the selection of a jury,—a matter often of hours in the General Sessions in cases of no greater importance. There is no opening address on the part of the district attorney or counsel for the defendant,—the written statement or information sworn to by the complainant being entirely sufficient for the court. Cross-examination is cut down to its essentials and tests of "credibility" are almost unnecessary. At the conclusion of the case there are no harangues from either side, and the judges almost immediately announce their decision and generally impose sentence on the spot.
Of course in nine cases out of ten the evidence is conclusive and the merest glance at the complainant and his or her witnesses is enough to satisfy the onlooker that their claim is honest and the charge substantial. In such cases the trials proceed with lightning-like celerity. The owner of the stolen property is sworn while the defendant and his lawyer are pushing their way through the crowd to the bar.
"Mr. Blickendecker, are you a grocer, fifty-five years of age, residing at 1000-A-rear, First Avenue, and having a store at 666½ Catharine Street?" rapidly articulates the deputy assistant district attorney.