OCR Text |
Show Giving Judge More Power Would Aid Administration Adminis-tration of Criminal Law j By EMORY R. BUCKNER, Ex-United States Attorney. The judge should" he the thirteenth juror and the third lawyer in the American courtroom. The judge is perhaps the most experienced man in the courtroom, and yet he is padlocked tc such an extent he does nothing noth-ing but preserve order and rule on objections while the partisan lawyers work on the jury. When the judge charges the jury he must not give the slightest indication of his own views. Instead, he con'lnes himself to the seldom-understood law, or if it is a review of the facts he must not indicate in-dicate his own judgment of truth. , The administration of criminal law needs many other reforms, but 1 unpadlocking our judges would work a miraculous change overnight. Ii the judge thinks that the defendant has heen proved guilty, let him tel. the jury so. Why the secret? Why the mystery? If he thinks the defendant has not heen proved guilty beyond a reasonable douht he already lias Uu po''er to direct an acquittal. |