The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 3, 1916, Page 6

L et stseicdar The pictures above show NDER the constitution of this. state the supreme 1 court consists of five judges, elected for six years, and their term of office commences on the first Monday of December after their election. - With . few exceptions, the i!upreme court has appellate juris- diction only, and it has a general Bsuperintending control over inferior courts. The principal ‘duty of the supreme court is to eonsider and decide such appeals tas may be taken from the several i district courts and county courts. The decisions must be given in . Writing, signed by the judges con- ,eurring, and every point. fairly ' arising on the record of the case "and necessary to a just decision _ghould be truly stated, considered “and decided, and the reasons there- for concisely stated. Such is the plain letter of the constitution. And, in writing a decision, the plain duty of the court is to Dbserve the constitution. Their duty is to state truly the points. fairly arising on the record, and to . Btate concisely the reasons of the decision. When a decision is written in that way it presents the truth and does not conceal or cover up errors of fact or of law. It is also the duty of the court to prepare and prefix to each decision -a headnote or “syllabus” of the points decided. The pur- pose of the headnote is to show at a glance the material points decided and not to cumber the records with spun out details covering two or three pages. As- a rule the modern headnotes and decision are entirely too lengthy and too complicated. In a head- note or syllabus there is no place for a complicated sentence of 400 words. ; Indeed, there is no place in any book for such a sentence. Yet it seems quite in keeping with some recent decisions covering 56 or more pages. (25 N. D. 394.) Under the law all our supreme eourt decisions are copied and pub- lished in books; known as North Dakota Reports and it is done at the expense of the taxpayers. The purpose is that the people - may read the decisiqns -and.know scenes at the farm homes of League boozsters near Ray, Williams his family in front of the house. In the center is a view of a wheat field on the farm of W. H. she right Mr. Eckberg, his wife and two children are shown ‘with Mr. Eckberg’s work horses. “Carelessness, . Bias and Pride” the Chie % L county. AR ORRS TFo the left is the home of Ole Eckberg, '.ifll Mr. Eekbe.rg and Heeter of Ray, with Mrs, Heeter and child standing amid the tall grain, At to Justice f of bowls, bias is a weight in the Causes of Wrong Decisions by Courts the law. ing is a waste of time and money .‘.........'.....O.....‘......0..........!....O.......... By J. E. Robinson 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000009000 THE COURTS AND THE PEOPLE (The constitution of the state of North Dakota gives the people of the state’ the. right ‘and imposes upon them the duty of selecting the judges of their courts, the citizens who are charged with the task of interpreting the law and administering justice. It is important that the people of the state should know something about the duties of their courts and whether they are being faithfully performed. If the people do not know these things how can they hope to select good judges, to retain good judges and to retire bad judges? Yet there seems to be a conspiracy to shroud the ways of the courts in mystery. The people are told that they can’t expect to know much about the processes of the courts and they are taught to consider it treasonous to.criticise judges. They are asked to rely upon the opinion of a few lawyers as to who are fit and who are unfit judges. The very decisions of the courts frequently seem to be ‘obscured in intricate language so as to prevent a common under- standing of them. Judges lend themselves to what seems to be concerted effort to mask their operaticns and to puzzle the ordinary citizen. All of this con- tributes to injustice. It tends to corrupt the courts. The people ought to understand what their courts are doing in order that-they ‘may approve what is good and condemn what is bad. The courts should make themselves plain to the people and should make their decisions plain if justice is to be insured. Men who have an intimate knowledge of the ways of the courts owe a duty to the people to explain the operations and the acts of the courts. Too many of them are reluctant to do so. One who has been willing to make the ways of the courts plain to the people is the-author-of the article printed herewith. Mr. Robinson is a veteran in- the fight for justice and fair dealing in the courts. He is a lover of simplicity and straightforwardness. What he writes can not be misunderstood. No lawyer or judge in North Dakota is better able than he to sift what is essential from a mass of evidence, none better able than he to resolve intricate words into plain meanings. He despises intricacy and obscurity, in which some lawyers seem to take pride, as an evidence of mud- dled thinking. Mr. Robinson’s remarks herewith regarding the functions and duties of the courts in general and of the supreme court in particular take on added importance because of the fact that Mr. Robinson is the leading candi- date for the state supreme court, having been honored in the recent primary election by a higher vote than any of the other candidates.—EDITOR.) However, the book mak- and experience. ...........'.........‘..............................0... may have too much of learning That was true of ‘make it just and exact.” when decisions are so-cumbersome or indicate that they are never ‘read and never published in any newspaper or magazine. The matter of a court decision should appeal to the understanding with’ the utmost clearness. It is not skill in politics, nor a term as a trial court, that fits a lawyer-judge for: the making of deliberate = decisions on qustions of law and of fact. Indeed, he simplicity and Lord.Bacon and it is true of many a judge. The good politician is not a good judge; his place is in party caucuses and conventions. Ap- pellate judges do not err from ignorance and incapacity so often as they err from carelessness, bias, and pride of opinion. Pride goeth before destruction, and ‘a haughty spirit before a fall. These unfit the mind for calm, judicial reasoning. In the game ) - Clover Growers Gather * Clover growers of Traill county have . advertised extensively a gathering to be held at Hillsboro, August 5, for the pur- pose. of studying drainage, with a view to improve North Dakota clover fields. The meeting was called by a dozen prominent farmers, headed by Datus C. Smith of Blanchard, and they have . made arrangements. for'a member of the PAGE SIX Agricultural college staff to speak, as .well as for other speakers. A feature will ‘be: the answering of ‘questions of farmers. Women and boys and girls are urged to attend, and it is believed there will be a large gathering. An . automobile trip to the Murray drain will take place during the afternoon and is instructive. expected to prove both entertaining and side of a ball which. turns it from a straight line. In law, bias is a bent of the mind which swerves it from the line of justice in favor of one side, \ ; = Some. occupations are apt to give the mind a lasting bias. The English- bishops and judges, appointed by the king to power and place, have always had a strong bias in favor of the divine right of kings. ; y When a loan and bank lawyer is made a judge, he is sure to have a narrow sense of equity and a bias in favor of the big dollar. When for years a lawyer is paid a good salary, or is made a judge by some big railway company, he is sure to have a bias in favor of such company. The calling of 3 lawyer leads to bias and to the con- founding of truth and errors. He espouses one side of a cause and marshalls evidence and arguments to sustain it. And this habit is too often seen in the decisions of the lawyer-judges. e A frequent cause of error is the lack of due care in considering and stating the law, and the evidence. “Something is left out which should go into the reckoning to building of a judicial decision, the greatest care should be taken to commence at the bottom %and if possible to lay the-foundation on solid rock of truth and to Jay the superstructure on solid supports, and not upon a mass of sandy quotations and defunct lore. Of course, there are cases when the best that can be done is to ba.se a legal_decision on the fair balance of probabilities. There is no scale to weigh the evidence and no way of guarding against all errors, but there is a way to.guard . against: the most obvious causes of €error. x ¢ There is a way for the judges of every supreme court to keep up with their work in a business like manner, - to without sale or graft, denial or delay, and to undo. the -heavy burdens which they themselves do ever lay upon suitors, yet touch not with-one of their fingers, In the -