10,061

1

DELEGATE BENNETT: I rise to ask unanimous

2

consent that this interesting bit of history be put in

3

the record and that Delegate Murray be granted two minutes

4

additional .

5

DELEGATE JAMES: All in favor say aye, opposed,

6

no. This is an unusual honor accorded you, sir.

7

DELEGATE E. C. MURRAY: What is the duty, what

8

is the duty of a criminal juror? Is it not to adjudge

9

the criminal guilt of his fellow man in the light of the

10

time: and place of the criminal act?

11

The attitude toward a given act in one part of

12

the State may vary considerably from another, and the

13

attitude today may vary tremendously from the attitude

14

30 years, 20 years, 40 years ago when the law was enacted.

15

It permits the juror to judge his fellow man

16

as he would expect to be judged.

17

When our ancestors embodied this protection for

18

themselves in our Constitution of 1851, they obviously

19

believed it to be wise. Today we have a very different pre-

20

cedent in the action of the Supreme Court of the United

21

States who today base theri judgments not solely upon the