CHAPTER XII
CHANGING THE GRAND JURY INTO A BUREAU OF CRIMINAL EXPERTS
A New Classification of Criminals
There has been a growing feeling on the part of judges, lawyers and others who are directly concerned in the practice of law in our criminal Courts, not only in this county, but in many parts of the land, that the grand jury system has become so antiquated and ineffective in its practical workings, that it should be abolished and a more modern system put in its place.
In this city at various times during the past few years several of our General Sessions judges, notably Judges Foster, Rosalsky and others, when charging grand juries at the opening of terms, have warned that body against finding indictments against individuals unless they are grounded on legal evidence. Such labors simply put the county to a needless expense and the unfortunate defendants to much inconvenience. And even the past year almost every Presiding Judge of General Sessions when charging the grand jury at the beginning of the term has taken pains to inform the body that under no circumstances must they find indictments against persons charged with crime except on legal evidence. Judge Warren W. Foster, one of the best and fairest of our criminal judges, is especially outspoken against this habit of finding indictments against persons charged with crime on illegal evidence. On a recent occasion Judge Foster took occasion to thank the grand jury for the caution they exercised during the month in refusing to indict persons except on sufficient grounds.
In charging another Grand Jury the Judge said in part:
“A friend of mine who has served frequently on the Grand Jury, and who is a prominent business man in this city, said to me: ‘The more I see of grand juries the more I think it is an antiquated humbug. It is but clay in the hands of the District Attorney to indict whomsoever he wants to and to dismiss any charge he wants to dismiss.’”
“A great many people believe that the Grand Jury is a panacea for all the ills of our body politic. If the Police Department is short of men go to the Grand Jury. If we want a new Court House go to the Grand Jury and if we can’t compel them to build one file a presentment on the subject. The Grand Jury’s duty is clearly defined, and you are not to find indictments except on evidence properly presented to you.”
All this shows that there is considerable feeling abroad against the Grand Jury system and some of our best thinkers believe it should be abolished and something more modern put in its place.
More than once I have sat in Part I, General Sessions, and have watched the Grand Jury file into court, and hand to the Judge on an average from ten to thirty indictments, which was the work of a morning sitting, consisting of about two hours.
Sometimes the morning has been spent in finding only five indictments, but as a rule the work is rushed and only a few minutes given to each case. There is no law as to how much time the Grand Jury shall spend on each case. While I have been amazed at the rapidity of their work, I have been more astonished at the superficial character of the work. It will be readily seen that the Grand Jury has not the time in two hours to examine even five complaints and do justice to each defendant, much less thirty, especially when we remember that these indictments are to brand with crime certain ones for life.