“The superior right existing in a sovereign government by which private property may in certain cases be taken or its use controlled for the public benefit, without regard to the wishes of the owner.”—Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Vol. I, p. 657.
“Eminent domain is said with more precision to be the right of the nation or the state, or of those to whom the power has been lawfully delegated, to condemn private property to public use, upon paying to the owner a due compensation, to be ascertained according to law.”—Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Vol. I, p. 651.
Just compensation is generally arrived at by those whose duty it is to secure the land for the government, by offering a good fair price for the land. If the owner of the land refuses to accept the offer, the land may be seized by the proper authority and the matter settled according to law. The law generally provides that a body of appraisers be appointed who appraise the value of the land and this amount is offered to the owner. If he refuses, the matter is carried to the court for determination. A jury is summoned to assess the value of the land and from this the owner may usually appeal, but the government cannot appeal; it must pay the appraised valuation or allow the owner to keep his property. It must be remembered that private property may only be taken by the government for public purposes.
Some purposes for which the government may take private property are: forts and arsenals, army posts, or public parks. It may take food supplies for use of the army or navy in time of war. It may take over the railroads for the benefit of the people of the Nation, etc. In all cases it must give just compensation.
Constitution of the United States, Amendment VI.
“A speedy trial is, it appears, one that is brought on without unreasonable delay for preparation; and a public trial is not necessarily one to which every one may obtain admission but one sufficiently free and open to allow the friends of the accessed and others to watch the proceedings.”—Emlin McClain, quoted in the Cyclopedia of American Government.
“Criminal prosecution is the means adopted to bring a supposed offender to justice and punishment by due course of law.”
“The speedy trial to which a person charged with crime is entitled under the constitution is a trial at such a time, after the finding of the indictment, as shall afford the prosecution a reasonable opportunity, by the fair and honest exercise of reasonable diligence, to prepare for trial, and if the trial is delayed or postponed beyond such period, when there is a term of court at which the trial might be had, by reason of neglect of the prosecution in preparing for trial, such delay is a denial to the defendant of the right of a speedy trial, and in such case a person confined, upon application by habeas corpus, is entitled to a discharge from custody.”—Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 1023.
Every jury is sworn to decide according to the evidence presented, guided by instructions in the law given by the judge. Juries are therefore held to be impartial.
The entire United States is divided into judicial districts, of which there are about ninety-two. These districts are found within the States as judicial districts do not cut State boundaries. Where the population is more sparse a Federal district comprises an entire State. Where the population is more dense a State may contain two or more districts. There are four United States District Court districts in the State of New York, two in Iowa, and only one in Nevada, and some other western States.