Professor of Sociology, Wharton School of Finance and Commerce and HENRY W. JESSUP, J. D. Chairman, Committee of Nine, Phi Delta Phi Club THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE 36TH AND WOODLAND AVENUE ENGLAND: P. S. King & Son, Ltd., 2 Great Smith Street, Westminster, London, S. W. GERMANY: Mayer & Müller, 2 Prinz Louis Ferdinandstrasse, Berlin, N. W. ITALY: Giornale Degli Economisti, via Monte Savello, Palazzo Orsini, Rome. THE SIMPLIFICATION OF THE MACHINERY OF JUSTICE WITH A VIEW TO ITS GREATER EFFICIENCY.. Report to the Phi Delta Phi Club of New York City by its Committee of Nine. Henry W. Jessup, J.D., Chairman. PART ONE-A JUDICIARY ARTICLE FOR THE STATE CONSTITUTION THE NEED FOR IDEALISM. SOME FUNDAMENTALS. THE NEED FOR EFFI- CIENCY. SOME OBSTACLES TO BE MET. RESPONSIBILITY OF MEMBERS OF THE BAR. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE AMERICAN JUDICATURE SOCIETY. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF REFORM. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PUBLIC OPINION. SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE PHI DELTA PHI WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE TYPICAL JUDICIARY ARTICLE FOR A CONSTITUTION...... 104 Charles A. Boston, Chairman of the Committee of Professional Ethics of the New York County Lawyers' Association, New York City. WHAT IS WRONG with Law AND LAWYERS? ANACHRONISMS IN LAW. PRO- CEDURAL REFORM. CONCILIATION. DEFECTIVE LAWS OF EVIDENCE AND THE CIVIL JURY. THE PROPOSED JUDICIARY ARTICLE. THE ABOLITION OF EXIST- ING COURTS. APPEALS. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENTS. THE APPOINTING POWER. MASTERS. JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION. JUDICIAL STATISTICS. THE LAYMAN'S DEMAND FOR IMPROVED JUDICIAL MA- William L. Ransom, Former Justice of the City Court of the City of New York; Chief Counsel of the New York State Public Service Commission for the First District. THE DEMAND FOR IMPROVED JUDICIAL MACHINERY. SHALL PROCEDURE FOREWORD The forward looking minds of America are giving thought to the changes and developments in our own domestic institutions which must, despite the stress of war times, be controlled and forwarded. One of the first of the topics to which national attention should be called is the simplification of our machinery of justice with a view to its greater efficiency. The period of much talk about judicial reform of a few years ago is now passing into the period of accomplishment. And of plans for re-formation, the Academy believes that the plan herewith presented by the committee of which Mr. Jessup is Chairman, together with the accompanying papers, is well conceived and eminently worthy of thought and of permanent record. The facts as to the committee are given in the footnote on the first page. This plan and the papers following it are founded on careful study and research and deliberate discussion. The Academy bespeaks from all its readers the thoughtful attention the papers deserve. This is a topic that warrants deliberation and study. In this subject there is no place for a decision based on the hearsay findings of a Committee on Rumor. For as is the machinery of justice so will be the justice meted out to property, to liberty, to life istelf. Just what parts of our machinery of justice need simplification and why? What changes have been proposed and what adopted? What changes in the constitution are necessary? In practice acts? In laws of evidence? In judicial administration? What is wrong with our justiciary machine and what must we do to set it right? These are the questions the Academy wanted answered in this volume for the guidance and convenience of its members. Messrs. Jessup and Kelsey have done well their tasks as special editors with full responsibility for the volume, and the Academy herewith bespeaks from all its readers the appreciation that is their due. CLYDE L. KING, |