Civil Government in the United States Considered with Some Reference to Its Origins

c. In respect to the consequences to the defendant if the case goes

Chapter 28805 wordsPublic domain

against him?

17. Give an outline of the procedure in a minor criminal action that is tried without a jury in a lower court. Consider (1) the complaint, (2) the warrant, (3) the return, (4) the recognizance, (5) the subpoena, (6) the arraignment, (7) the plea, (8) the testimony, (9) the arguments,(10) the judgment and sentence, and (11) the penalty and its enforcement.

What is an appeal?--This procedure seems cumbrous, but it is founded in common sense. What one of the foregoing steps, for example, would you omit? Why?

18. Give an outline of the procedure in a criminal action that is tried with a jury in a higher court. The action is begun in a lower court where the first five stages are the same as in number 17. Then follow (6) the examination of witnesses, (7) the binding over of the accused to appear before the higher court for trial, (8) the sending of the complaint and the proceedings thereon to the district or county attorney, (9) the indictment, (10) the action of the grand jury upon the indictment, (11) the challenging of jurors before the trial, (12) the arraignment, (13) the plea, (14) the testimony, (15) the arguments, (16) the charge to the jury, (17) the verdict, and (18) the sentence, with its penalty and the enforcement of it. What are "exceptions?"--Why should there be a jury in the higher court when there is none in the lower? What is the objection to dispensing with any one of the foregoing steps? Does this machinery make it difficult to punish crime? Why should an accused person receive so much consideration?

19. Give an outline of the procedure in a minor civil action. Consider (1) the writ, (2) the attachment, (3) the summons to the defendant, (4) the return, (5) the pleading, (6) the testimony, (7) the arguments, (8) the judgment or decision of the judge, and (9) the execution.--If the action is conducted in a higher court, then a jury decides the question at issue, the judge instructing the jurors in points of law.

20. Suppose an innocent man is tried for an alleged crime and acquitted, has he any redress?

21. Is the enforcement of law complete and satisfactory in your community?

22. What is your opinion of the general security of person and property in your community?

23. Is there any connection between public sentiment about a law and the enforcement of that law? If so, what is it?

24. Any one of the twelve subjects of legislation cited on page 177 may be taken as a special topic. Consult any modern history of England.

25. Which do you regard as the more important possession for the citizen,--an acquaintance with the principles and details of government and law, or a law-abiding and law-supporting spirit? What reasons have you for your opinion? Where is your sympathy in times of disorder, with, those who defy the law or with those who seek to enforce it? (Suppose a case in which you do not approve the law, and then answer.)

26. May you ever become an officer of the law? Would you as a citizen be justified in withholding from an officer that obedience and moral support which you as an officer might justly demand from every citizen?

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.

The State.--For the founding of the several colonies, their charters, etc., the student may profitably consult the learned monographs in Winsor's _Narrative and Critical History of America_, 8 vols., Boston, 1886-89. A popular account, quite full in details, is given in Lodge's _Short History of the English Colonies in America_, N. Y., 1881. There is a fairly good account of the revision and transformation of the colonial governments in Bancroft's _History of the United States_, final edition, N.Y., 1886, vol. v. pp. 111-125.

The series of "American Commonwealths," edited by H.E. Scudder, and published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., will be found helpful. The following have been published: Johnston, _Connecticut: a Study of a Commonwealth-Democracy_, 1887; Roberts, _New York: the Planting and Growth of the Empire State_, 2 vols., 1887; Browne, _Maryland: the History of a Palatinate_, 2d ed., 1884; Cooke, _Virginia: a History of the People_, 1883; Shaler, _Kentucky: a Pioneer Commonwealth_, 1884; King, _Ohio: First Fruits of the Ordinance of 1787_,1888; Dunn, _Indiana: a Redemption from Slavery_, 1888; Cooley, _Michigan: a History of Governments_, 1885; Carr, _Missouri: a Bone of Contention_, 1888; Spring, _Kansas: the Prelude to the War for the Union_, 1885; Royce, _California: a Study of American Character_, 1886; Barrows, _Oregon: the Struggle for Possession_, 1883.

In connection with the questions on page 183, the student is advised to consult Dole's _Talks about Law: a Popular Statement of What our Law is and How it is Administered_, Boston, 1887. This book deserves high praise. In a very easy and attractive way it gives an account of such facts and principles of law as ought to be familiarly understood by every man and woman.