A MEDICAL STUDY OF THE JURY SYSTEM. 377 



intelligence, and courage to reach unbiased conclusions in accord 

 with the facts. In reality the practice is to gather men who can 

 be influenced by the counsel men possessing some defect and 

 weakness which can be taken advantage of by one side or the 

 other. The issue of the case will depend on the influences which 

 can be brought to bear on the jury. Usually, jurors are rejected 

 when they swear that they have formed an opinion ; but when 

 they assert that such opinions are subject to change from evidence 

 and are not fixed, they are accepted. The real qualifications would 

 seem to be availability, credulity, ignorance, and possibility of 

 personal influence by persuasion, flattery, and appeals to some 

 personal bias that may be known. Each counsel is interested in 

 selecting twelve men he can influence to his view of the case, or, 

 in the court language, " men he can handle readily." It is un- 

 fortunately true that jury duty is evaded by the best men, and to 

 a large extent the men who are willing to serve in this capacity 

 are more or less incompetent. In the cities, idle men and pro- 

 fessional jurors are always available. In country towns, farmers, 

 mechanics, and others find the jury duty a recreation, and a not 

 unpleasant change from the monotony of their life. While these 

 men are superior to the city jurors in honesty, they are less able 

 or accustomed to the confinement of rooms and the emotional 

 appeals of partisans. 



It is evident to any general observation that the average jury 

 is unable to pass judgment on, or even to comprehend in any 

 adequate way, many of the questions submitted to it such as 

 motives and capacity of the mind and the power of control ; the 

 analysis of conduct, and the conditions and influences which have 

 been dominant in certain acts ; the application of the law, and the 

 distinctions of responsibility and accountability ; the distinctions 

 of science as to the meaning of certain facts, or the recognition 

 and discrimination of facts from the mass of statements. To this 

 incapacity are added the passionate appeals of opposing counsel, 

 who draw the most opposite conclusions from the same set of 

 facts. Then the judge charges that if they shall find such and 

 such conditions to be true, they shall bring in such and such a 

 verdict; and if such and such conditions are not true, another 

 verdict must be given. This brings them into a state of the most 

 bewildering mental confusion, from which only the trained 

 judge could extricate himself. The wonder is that they are able 

 to reach any verdict that even approximates the levels of human 

 justice. 



These facts are recognized by all observing men, and have 

 been the subject of serious discussion for a long time. It has not 

 occurred to any one to consider the conditions and surroundings 

 of the jury who are to decide the great questions of life and death 



VOL. XLVII. 31 



