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as to say that every man who happens to
be accused of a crime and the judge thinks
he is a bad fellow and should be kept off
the street because of some other crime,
that he ought to be allowed to keep him in
jail. That leaves him accused. He stands
before the bench and the judge says, in my
opinion, young man, although you will not
be found guilty until later, I think you
probably are and if I let you go you might
go out and do it again. I do not think we
run that kind of country. I hope not. I
do not think that is any ground for any
man, and judges are men, to make that
decision. If a man has not yet been con-
victed, no matter if he was convicted a
hundred times before for a hundred other
crimes, he should not be able to be held in
jail until such time as the judge gets
around to confirming what he has already
found in his own mind.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Kiefer, do
you desire to comment?
DELEGATE KIEFER: I will yield to
Delegate Child.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Child.
DELEGATE BOYCE: Mr. Chairman—
DELEGATE CHILD: Mr. Chairman, I
do not want to prolong the argument.
THE CHAIRMAN: For what purpose
does Delegate Boyce rise?
DELEGATE BOYCE: Should Chairman
Kiefer not yield to the majority author of
this thing rather than the minority au-
thor? This is a point of personal privilege.
THE CHAIRMAN: Anyone who wants
to speak has the opportunity and will be
recognized. I assume that Delegate Kiefer
suggested that Delegate Child speak be-
cause he was the sponsor of the amend-
ment that is now being reconsidered.
Delegate Child.
DELEGATE CHILD: Mr. Chairman, I
do not want to prolong the debate. I think
everyone here has heard this morning the
arguments on both sides of this question,
and have made up their minds, and I do
not care to take any more time of the Com-
mittee of the Whole.
DELEGATE MITCHELL: Mr. President.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Mitchell.
DELEGATE MITCHELL: Mr. President
and fellow delegates, I voted against this
recommendation in Committee because at
the insistence of some of the members of
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our Committee this clause, "except in cases
punishable by death or life imprisonment,"
was included.
It seems to me that the fact that a man
is innocent until proven guilty is the princi-
ple upon which our system of justice has
been founded. I know a number of persons
who have been arrested, many of them on
circumstantial evidence, and charged with
a capital offense. Many of them have been
later found innocent, but a number of these
persons who have been found guilty were
hampered in finding witnesses to clear
themselves because they were held in jail
and bail was not available. It seems to
me unfortunate .that it is the rule, not the
exception, that there is a trend that when
a man is charged, there is a presumption
that he is guilty in the manner of setting
bail. I am also opposed to the exception:
"except in cases punishable by death or
life imprisonment".
The accused is only charged with a crime.
He has not been proved guilty, and I think
this runs contrary to our whole system.
Therefore, I voted against it in Committee.
I thought it was an unfair and unjust
exception, and it is still here in the docu-
ment. However, I am for the principle in-
cluded in the rest of section B, and if I
vote for it this time, it will be in the hope
that an amendment will be offered to elimi-
nate this un-American and undemocratic
exception.
THE CHAIRMAN: Any other delegates
desire to speak to the motion to reconsider?
What side do you wish to speak to, Dele-
gate Scanlan?
DELEGATE SCANLAN: I am against
the motion for reconsideration.
THE CHAIRMAN: You may speak.
DELEGATE SCANLAN: I do not want
to belabor the arguments. If the motion for
reconsideration passes and the committee
proposal as originally suggested is adopted,
it will mean that a trial court cannot take
into account in fixing bail the possibility
of recidivism on the part of the offender.
The judges of the District of Columbia
are plagued with this problem now under
the federal bail format and it is ridiculous
for me to say that a committing judge
cannot take into account the possibility that
a man charged may commit a crime during
the period he is incarcerated. I am sorry
we rejected Delegate Grant's amendment. I
think it would have preserved the best of
both worlds but I say under any circum-
stances it is utterly ridiculous to deny this
privilege to a trial court judge of exercising
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