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1182 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS [Mar. 25,
The following message was received from his Excellency
the Governor per hands of his private Secretary, Mr. Samuel
W. Brooks:
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
Annapolis, March 24th, 1876.
Gentlemen of the House of Delegates:
I beg to return, without my approbation, House bill, No.
108, entitled an Act to extend the jurisdiction of the Justices
of the Peace for St. Mary's and Baltimore counties, to cases
of assault and battery.
There are in my judgment several serious grounds of ob-
jections to this proposed measure.
The 5th Article of the Bill of Rights declares, "That the
inhabitants of Maryland are entitled to the Common Law of
England and the trial by jury," and Article 21 confirming
the doctrine of our Federal Constitution expressly declares:
"That in all criminal prosecutions, every man hath a right
to be informed of the accusation against him, to have a copy
of the indictment or charge in due time, il required, to pre-
pare for his defense; to be allowed counsel; to be confronted
with the witnesses against him; to have procehs for his wit-
nesses, to examine the witnesses for and against him on
oath, and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury, without
whose unanimous consent he ought not to be found guilty."
It cannot be denied that these important privileges which
are thus conferred by the highest authority known among
us, may be entirely annulled by the passage of the proposed
law, and that instead of being subject to the unanimous ver-
dict of an impartial jury the liberty of the citizen in this
class of cases controlled by the will of a single individual.
This is a dangerous power, and utterly inconsistant with our
theory of government.
The most important objection, however, to this bill exists
in fact that it is based on special legislation, which is not
only prohibited by the Constitution, but entirely opposed to
the best interests of the community.
The criminal jurisdiction of our Courts, so important for
the welfare of all, is most carefully provided for by the laws
of this State, and its advantages and restrictions are applica-
ble alike to every city and cotinty. Uniformity in the law,
by which Criminal Tribunals are organized, must always be
of great Advantage, and ft cannot be in accordance with a
wine policy that such county should have Criminal Tribu-
nals of its own, independent of those organized by the Con-
stitution of the State, with a jurisdiction found upon special
Jaws which are wholly inoperative outside of its limits.
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