The American JudiciaryBaldwin, Simeon E. (Simeon Eben)
History
The American Judiciary
Baldwin, Simeon E. (Simeon Eben)
Courts -- United States; Law -- United States -- History
In 1882 a brakeman was injured on a New York railroad. He
brought suit against the company, and in 1884 recovered $4,000
damages. The judgment in 1886 was reversed on appeal. On a new
trial he got a verdict for $4,900. This was appealed to two
courts successively. The first affirmed and the second reversed
the judgment. In 1889, there was a third trial, at which the
company won. Two appeals by the brakeman followed. On the first
the intermediate appellate court, in 1894, decided against him.
On the second, in 1897, the court of last resort decided for him.
For the fourth time the case came on in the trial court, and a
verdict for $4,500 was recovered. The company appealed and with
success. A fifth trial gave him a verdict for $4,900. This,
too, was set aside on appeal. A sixth trial followed with
exactly the same results. In 1902, the seventh and final trial
took place. The verdict this time was for $4,500. The company
appealed again, but was defeated.[Footnote: Case and Comment, X,
50.] A lawsuit that embraces seven appeals and lasts for twenty
years is, of course, a rarity, but the system of administrative
justice under which such things are possible is faulty somewhere.
The right of trial by jury is one cause of such delays. The
broad right of appeal is another. The want of skill and
experience on the part of trial judges and trial lawyers may be a
third. The twenty-three English judges of the High Court of
Justice (with the aid of masters in chancery and referees)
actually try and determine about fifty-six hundred cases a
year.[Footnote: This was the average number for each of the years
1900 and 1901.] Each judge, therefore, on the average,
dispatches over two hundred and forty. No American judges under
our American system of practice could do as much and do it well.
We tolerate a succession of motions and objections and arguments
from the bar which English courts would not. We often take more
time in impanelling a jury than they would in trying the case.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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