212 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



are apt to yield a little in what they think is the abstract justice of the 

 case. Says Pope: 



The hungry judges soon a sentence sign. 

 And wretches hang that jurymen may dine. 



It has also been pointed out that the jury system with its unit rule 

 puts a premium on obstinacy. The narrow-minded, obstinate, and 

 prejudiced man is given an exaggerated importance as soon as he enters 

 the jury room. He has made up his mind, perhaps, before the trial 

 began, and his mental apparatus is of such a character that he cannot 

 be persuaded by the arguments of the majority. He therefore feels 

 his importance, and will have the verdict his way or the jury will have 

 to disagree. Cases are on record where one obstinate juror caused the 

 disagreement and afterward went bragging about his achievement. 



Again the jurors are not all of the same vitality. An obstinate person 

 with abounding health and strength will be able to wear out the other 

 members of less physical endowment. In such cases there is a presump- 

 tion that the stronger man's influence with the jury is not measured by 

 his intellectual capacity, but by other things which are of very little 

 value in weighing the merits and demerits of a case. The brute strength 

 of the jurors becomes an element of great importance in their decisions. 

 If the verdict were rendered by less than twelve, it would perhaps be 

 rendered very soon after the jury entered the room and thus the element 

 of brute strength would be eliminated. So also would be the now 

 exaggerated importance of the narrow-minded and obstinate juror. 



It has become a common saying that the best men of the country 

 are not now serving on the juries. It is also a fact that there is such a 

 person as the professional juryman. The men who are the real bul- 

 warks of our society are too busy with their business to think of spending 

 the time wrangling with the narrow-minded and obstinate, as is the 

 present requirement of the jury system. We want the best men in the 

 community in the jury box. If we must go into the courts, as many of 

 us must sometimes do, and through no fault of our own, we want our 

 case tried by the men who have proved by their ability in the actual 

 business world that they have good common sense. We do not want 

 cases of great importance intrusted to a set of men like the professional 



