1.2 dloeharget

.. not guilt7

10 noll.d and "no papera" '14 CASES

1lO\INl) OVER

16 no bUl by Gran!. Jury

9 nolle<! b7

proaecutor

74 boun! o ... r 5 aCqu1 ttod b)'

to Gran! JUJ7I otberwl •• dl.po ••

of Wi thout IOnte_

37 SlilI'lJllCES

e ••ntence.

.u.pended 29 SEll'lJllCES

7 tl ...

and •• nten0e4

29 •• ntence. 7 laoprl ...... nt

lft .o.

eUCNw4 15 1mprl ...... nt

1 n pen! tenU&J7

or reto naator,

Diagram 7.-What happened to each 100 felony cases beginning in the MunicipalCourts, 1919

THE MUNICIPAL PROSECUTOR

.

PERSONNEL

The force of the municipal prosecutor's office consists of the chief prosecutor and six assistants. These officials are appointed by the city director of law, who is, at least nominally, the chief municipal prosecutor. The chief prosecutor has nominal control over the other prosecutors,

[ 27 1

although at the time of the survey this control was not permitted to be vigorously exercised. The survey bases its estimate of the quality of the personnel of the prosecutor's office upon the replies which it received from a questionnaire sent to all members of the bar in Cleveland. The general opinion was expressed in May, 1921, that the men were selected for political reasons and that only one or two members of the office were capable of performing the work. The most severe criticism made in the survey concerning the personnel of the office was of the general practice of giving out appointments to the prosecutor's office, seemingly for no reason except to satisfy the requirements of large racial or national groups in the community. Thus we have men appointed to the prosecutor's office not because they are experienced in the law or in meeting a certain class of cases that come into the prosecutor's office, but because they are Poles, Czechs, Jews, Italians, or Irish. This practice, which Mr. Bettman calls " the tribalization of prosecution," has been characteristic of this office from almost the beginning. It was found by the survey that the prosecutors, while their work was conducted with great despatch and confusion during a part of the day, were not in evidence during that period which in private business constitutes a full day's work.

THE BUSINESS OF PROSECUTION The survey thus describes the absence of business methods and equipment in the prosecutor's office. "The office of the prosecuting attorney of the Municipal Court handles about 75,000 criminal matters a year and actually prosecutes 26,000 criminal cases in a year. Yet that office has no managing clerk or any other clerk ; it has no files and no records ; it has no stenographers ; it drops cases with or without filing a prosecution, entirely without any statement or record of reasons for this action.

[ 28 ]

carry it to the office of the clerk of the court. The carelessness with which they are handled furnishes opportunity for the mysterious disappearance of affidavits and such disappearances take place occasionally." (Pages 114-120.)

THE COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE

PERSONNEL

At the time the survey was made the county prosecutor's office had seven assistants on the criminal side, in addition to the prosecutor himself. These assistants were all appointed on January 1, 1921, which indicates the fact that when the political complexion of the prosecutor's office changes, the entire force changes. Of the seven assistants, one had been a member of the bar for twenty-one years, while the remaining six averaged about four years of opportunity for private practice. According to the judgment of the 92 lawyers who replied to the questionnaire previously mentioned, only two expressed an opinion that the prosecutors were possessed of the necessary ability and competence.

THE ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF THE COUNTY PROSECUTOR 'S OFFICE

In general the county prosecutor and his assistants take no part in investigating the crime or molding the proof. He has no machinery other than his busy attendants and a single "county detective," a general utility man for such service. He pits what Mr. Bettman in the survey calls " serial unpreparedness" against the carefully prepared case of the defendant's lawyer. He takes the proof in the way it has been prepared by the municipal prosecutor, making the best of what he gets, except that in more serious cases he attempts, sometimes months after the crime is committed, to remedy the defects.

JURIES IN CUYAHOGA COUNTY

"Jurors recruited from the caverns of Ali Baba in the desert," remarked the oldest judge on the bench of this county, with the hearty approval of a large audience of lawyers. This seems to be a characteristic expression of the general dissatisfaction with the average juries of the county, a judgment which is attested by the great number of convictions set aside because of poor jury work, a 600 per cent. increase in acquittals in seven years, and an unwarranted number of disagreements.

In 1915 the old method of jurors, "hand picked" for political and other purposes, was discarded for what was intended to be a thoroughly

[ 29 1

impartial carrying out of the theory of jury service. Prospective jurors

are selected by an impartial method from the polling list. They are summoned by mail and examined. Their names are then placed in the wheel and are drawn therefrom at the request of the court.

The system is in charge of the jury commissioners, who are, by recent

action of the court, the same persons as the assignment commissioners.

The survey is convinced that this combination of offices was wise and

should produce some improvement.

AVOIDANCE OF DUTY Statistics set forth by the survey indicate certain startling facts concerning the attitude of citizens of intelligence and means toward the duty of jury service. The most important of these are :

These facts are a serious indictment of those sections of society which are commonly the sharpest critics of government.

THE QUALITY OF JURY PERSONNEL A compilation of the occupations of jurors for two months revealed in general that the personnel of the juries of this county is, in occupations and probably in general intelligence, about a cross-section of Cleveland's population. But this is not adequate for the exacting duties implied in jury service. Jurors should be "judicious and discreet persons

It is shown, moreover, that many who are unemployed seek and obtain extended service on juries. Commendable as is any method of

[301

that the present practice of the prosecutor's office in handling such cases is as loose and haphazard as in the case of nolles.

SUSPENDED SENTENCES OR "BENCH PAROLES "

The very great importance of the suspended sentence in Cleveland courts is indicated by the fact that from 10 to 30 per cent. of felony cases receive suspended sentences, and in offenses less than felonies in the Municipal Court 35 per cent. receive suspended sentences. The whole practice regarding the suspension of sentences is loose. Much of it is of doubtful validity. The practices intended to safeguard it are by no means commonly observed. Sentences of imprisonment are suspended without probation, and sentences of fines are suspended without a condition concerning the payment of the fine. The theory of the suspended sentence, i. e., the idea of a sword hanging over the defendant, is under present practices nothing but a theory. With rare exceptions the suspended sentence is promptly forgotten by everybody, and if the defendant comes back into court upon a new, or even the same, charge, the old sentence is very seldom remembered.

BAIL Among the most commonly condemned features of criminal justice in Cleveland are certain irregularities which have grown up in connection with the giving of bail bonds. There are several steps in the process of justice where bail is given. A bond can be given immediately after arrest, to secure appearance in Municipal Court. In misdemeanor cases the amount of this is fixed by the clerk of the court ; in felony cases, by the judge. Later, if at the hearing the defendant is convicted and appeals, or if he is bound over to the grand jury, he again gives bond, the amount of which is fixed by the judge. Thereafter the amount of bonds is fixed by the Common Pleas judge.

The most serious evils connected with bail bonds are :

(d) Failure to secure judgment and to collect on forfeited bonds. Statistics compiled by the state auditor indicate that, of the total amount of bail bonds forfeited from August 26, 1916, to May 27, 1919, only 0.6 per cent. was collected. The cost of collection was equal to the amount collected, and there was little if any effort made to issue executions on judgments rendered.

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Suggestions to correct the bail bond evil are :

(a) The creation of the office of bail bond commissioner by the legislature in 1921 was largely brought about by the efforts of the Bar Association. This office began its work in July, 1921. Its chief function is to pass upon the qualifications of sureties and to enforce forfeited bonds.

In March, 1922, the supreme court declared this statute unconstitutional, but it is still operating under the power of the court to create deputy bailiffs of the court.

THE NOLLE PROSEQUI This motion, commonly called "nolle," means literally and in practice, "To be unwilling to prosecute." It is made by the prosecutor and allowed or overruled by the judge. The Ohio law provides that the county prosecutor shall not enter a "nolle " "without leave of the court, or good cause shown, in open court." There is no such provision for the

Municipal Court. In actual practice the granting of a "nolle " is almost entirely within the discretion of the prosecutor, as the judge usually, without question, takes the word of the prosecutor. There has been a

rather startling increase in the frequency with which this motion has been used since 1918 (see diagram on p. 13) . The survey indicated that 14.27 per cent. of felony cases which had successfully passed the two preliminary examinations were nolled in the Common Pleas Court. Occasionally there is what is known as a "blanket nolle," in which several hundred "dead " cases are thrown out at once.

The chief criticism of the survey regarding the practice of " nolleing " cases is the careless manner in which it is exercised. The prosecutors ask for and obtain nolles with little or no explanation to the court. No record is kept, and in most cases even the prosecutors fail to remember the reason which prompted their action. This gives an opportunity for all sorts of irregularities and for at least the appearance of "inside influence with the prosecutor."

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THE MOTION IN MITIGATION

In January, 1921, liquor cases resulting in 314 fines were filed in the Municipal Court. Thus the uninitiated, public might, by mathematical process, determine that $101,650 would come into the treasury. But in the name of a mysterious legal "motion " $42, 135 of this amount was taken from these fines. Of the 314 cases, "motions in mitigation " were made in 193 cases and allowed in 114 cases. Thus, through the magic of this "motion in mitigation," a judge may receive public approval for severity and still receive the grateful appreciation of a large number of " victims. "

Not only does this motion provide an opportunity for official hypocrisy of a high order, but it adds again to the law's delay. In the cases referred to, an average of 15.43 days was required to overrule a motion in mitigation and an average of 35.15 days to grant it. Delay always favors the party who can keep alive his motion in mitigation.

PERJURY

It is perhaps inappropriate to include perjury in the list of procedural means of escaping the penalty of the law. It has, however, become so common and so seemingly harmless a means of escape that it ranks with other more regular and legitimate methods.

The whole story of the decline in character of criminal justice is told by the statistics on perjury prosecutions in Cuyahoga County, in cases begun in 1919. Out of 3,000 cases heard in that year, only 27 were for "offenses against public justice." Of these, 20 were for bribery and seven for perjury. This means that less than 1 per cent. of the felony cases that year were for a crime which both bench and bar admit is common. Of the 27 cases which were brought to light, only two were found or pleaded 'guilty. Of these, one was "bench paroled," leaving one sentence executed. The survey impressively notes : "Behind the McGannon trial, therefore, is a community which recognizes the prevalence of crimes against public justice, but seeks to vindicate the law in only a handful of cases in a year for such offenses and allows all but one offender to escape.

"The drugged state of the public conscience is indicated by Petition No. 188262, filed by one of those indicted in the McGannon perjury investigation, against Judge McGannon for balance due for services ' in influencing Mary Neely to change her attitude in her testimony in a lawsuit wherein he was charged with murder.' An attempt was made to withdraw this petition upon the indictment of the petitioner for the crime set out in his own petition."

[34]

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS FOR JUDICIAL AD

MINISTRATION AND PROSECUTION

SINGLE UNIFIED CRIMINAL COURT

The survey strongly recommends that Cleveland establish a single unified criminal court similar to that which has been established and is successfully operating in Detroit. This would involve the combination of the criminal jurisdiction of both Common Pleas and Municipal Courts. It would permit the very greatly needed unification of the prosecution processes into one office and go far toward eliminating the lost motion which exists because of the division of jurisdiction between the courts. This step would be revolutionary and would require a considerable amount of legislation. The report suggests that in order to accomplish the needed results, the new court would not be needed at once, and that all criminal business of the Municipal Court could be transferred to the existing sessions of the Common Pleas Court.

A CHIEF JUSTICE FOR THE COMMON PLEAS COURT

The survey has pointed out very definitely the unsatisfactory conditions which result from the lack of an administrative head in the Common Pleas Court. This is a quite generally recognized need, and the Bar Association prepared a bill for submission to the legislature in 1921, which bill, however, was not passed. This reform is essential to the improvement of business in the Common Pleas Court.

CHANGES IN THE MODE OF ELECTING JUDGES The survey does not go so far as to recommend the abolition of the present elective system of judges, but recommends a great change in the method now in practice. It is deemed by the survey impossible, with the prsent state of public opinion, to adopt the appointive system of selecting judges. However, it is probable that many of the present evils can be eliminated by providing more protection for a judge already on the bench. Therefore, the survey recommends that judges should be elected for a first term of six years, at the end of which they should run for reelection for a longer term, and that in each successive campaign for reelection they should run against their own record and not against a group of other candidates. Thus the question to be decided when a judge completes his term of office is, "Shall he be retired or shall he be retained? " In the event of the retirement of a judge, a special election in which he would not be a candidate would be held.

[35)

THE MOTION IN MITIGATION In January, 1921, liquor cases resulting in 314 fines were filed in the Municipal Court. Thus the uninitiated, public might, by mathematical process, determine that $101,650 would come into the treasury. But in the name of a mysterious legal "motion" $42,135 of this amount was taken from these fines. Of the 314 cases, "motions in mitigation" were made in 193 cases and allowed in 114 cases. Thus, through the magic of this "motion in mitigation," a judge may receive public approval for severity and still receive the grateful appreciation of a large number of " victims. " Not only does this motion provide an opportunity for official hypocrisy of a high order, but it adds again to the law's delay. In the cases referred to, an average of 15.43 days was required to overrule a motion in mitigation and an average of 35.15 days to grant it. Delay always favors the party who can keep alive his motion in mitigation.

PERJURY

It is perhaps inappropriate to include perjury in the list of procedural means of escaping the penalty of the law. It has, however, become so common and so seemingly harmless a means of escape that it ranks with other more regular and legitimate methods.

The whole story of the decline in character of criminal justice is told by the statistics on perjury prosecutions in Cuyahoga County, in cases begun in 1919. Out of 3,000 cases heard in that year, only 27 were for "offenses against public justice." Of these, 20 were for bribery and seven for perjury. This means that less than 1 per cent. of the felony cases that year were for a crime which both bench and bar admit is common. Of the 27 cases which were brought to light, only two were found or pleaded 'guilty. Of these, one was "bench paroled," leaving one sentence executed. The survey impressively notes : "

"The drugged state of the public conscience is indicated by Petition No. 188262, filed by one of those indicted in the McGannon perjury investigation, against Judge McGannon for balance due for services ' in influencing Mary Neely to change her attitude in her testimony in a lawsuit wherein he was charged with murder.' An attempt was made to withdraw this petition upon the indictment of the petitioner for the crime set out in his own petition."

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SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS FOR JUDICIAL AD

MINISTRATION AND PROSECUTION

SINGLE UNIFIED CRIMINAL COURT

The survey strongly recommends that Cleveland establish a single unified criminal court similar to that which has been established and is successfully operating in Detroit. This would involve the combination of the criminal jurisdiction of both Common Pleas and Municipal Courts. It would permit the very greatly needed unification of the prosecution processes into one office and go far toward eliminating the lost motion which exists because of the division of jurisdiction between the courts. This step would be revolutionary and would require a considerable amount of legislation. The report suggests that in order to accomplish the needed results, the new court would not be needed at once, and that all criminal business of the Municipal Court could be transferred to the existing sessions of the Common Pleas Court.

A CHIEF JUSTICE FOR THE COMMON PLEAS COURT The survey has pointed out very definitely the unsatisfactory conditions which result from the lack of an administrative head in the Common Pleas Court. This is a quite generally recognized need, and the Bar Association prepared a bill for submission to the legislature in 1921, which bill, however, was not passed. This reform is essential to the improvement of business in the Common Pleas Court.

CHANGES IN THE MODE OF ELECTING JUDGES

The survey does not go so far as to recommend the abolition of the present elective system of judges, but recommends a great change in the method now in practice. It is deemed by the survey impossible, with the prsent state of public opinion, to adopt the appointive system of selecting judges. However, it is probable that many of the present evils can be eliminated by providing more protection for a judge already on the bench. Therefore, the survey recommends that judges should be elected for a first term of six years, at the end of which they should run for reelection for a longer term, and that in each successive campaign for reelection they should run against their own record and not against a group of other candidates. Thus the question to be decided when a judge completes his term of office is, "Shall he be retired or shall he be retained?" In the event of the retirement of a judge, a special election in which he would not be a candidate would be held.

[ 35 )

large and important organization. Also, he has the power to become a leader for the community in matters relating to the administration of criminal justice. The same is true of the county prosecutor, whose chief function should be, not the prosecution of individual cases, but the general supervision of a large and efficiently organized business office.

BUSINESS METHODS IN COURT

The survey has recommended, in some detail, changes in procedure and method for judicial administration. Chief among these are the segregation of trials or calendars, the use of the summons instead of arrests in a large number of cases, stenographic report of testimony in preliminary hearings in the Municipal Court, and a toning up of the general decorum surrounding the operation of both courts.

ABOLISH THE MOTION IN MITIGATION

The "motion in mitigation" has no proper place in the administration of justice and should be abolished.

THE PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM

The report on criminal courts gives in some detail the need of a more modern method of handling those cases in which the burden of the defense as well as the prosecution falls upon the state. Mr. Smith recommends that, while the public defender system which has been demonstrated in Los Angeles, and which is now extended throughout the State of California, is a satisfactory, modern, and efficient method, for the present Cleveland can trust this function to quasi-public rat.her than public hands. He recommends that the New York Voluntary Defenders' Committee be used as a model, and that this organization should take over the work of representing poor persons in criminal cases in the manner now undertaken by the legal aid society in civil cases. This could be controlled by a special committee of the Bar Association, and would be able to do the work of assigned counsel with much greater efficiency and a smaller expenditure of money than is now required. To this quasipublic defender office the Municipal Court judges could refer cases where defendants need counsel for a fair trial. This public defender system, it is hoped, would go far toward eliminating the objectionable shyster lawyer from his most profitable field of employment.

FURTHER SAFEGUARDS FOR THE NOLLE

The survey recommends that the nolle, which has become such a large element in the history of criminal cases in Cleveland, should be more

[ 37 ]

adequately safeguarded from abuse. It should be filed like any other motion, and should specify in writing the prosecutor's reasons for declining to prosecute. This change should be effected by rule of court, and it should always be in the court's further discretion, whether the complaining witness should be notified or whether there should be a general notice by publication.

ADEQUATE PROBATION AS AN AGENT OF THE COURT

The practice of the court, suspending sentences and operating so largely in such cases without information, should be remedied by the establishment of adequate probation departments. While a unified court would make possible the ideal condition of a centralized and well-organized probation system for all sorts of cases, it was recommended by the survey that the Common Pleas Court immediately establish a probation system and that the probation system in the Municipal Court be unified and coordinated to a greater degree than at present.

IMPROVEMENT OF JURY SYSTEM

The jury system, so unsatisfactory now, could be greatly improved by a simple change in the public's attitude toward jury service. Unless the intelligent citizens of the community assume a different attitude toward their obligations, the present jury cannot be very greatly improved. In addition there should be more safeguards covering the service of summonses, which would put an end to the present wholesale ignoring of the court's call. Excuse from the jury service should not be granted except for very extraordinary reasons, such as a death in the immediate family, or cases of great emergency, or danger of serious or irreparable loss. The present system of maintaining jury commissioners who are competent and non-political in their interests is highly commended.

ADEQUATE HOUSING FOR THE CRIMINAL COURTS

Many of the evils connected with the administration of justice can be traced back to the unsatisfactory housing conditions which are present in both county and municipal courts. Decorum is to some extent dependent upon the physical conditions of the court-room, and decorum is one of the fundamental shortcomings of both courts. Adequate housing for the courts, the prosecutors, and other agencies of the courts means that Cuyahoga County must build an adequate building for criminal justice. Great improvement in the operation of our courts cannot come until this is accomplished.

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PENAL AND CORRECTIONAL TREATMENT

CORRECTION, PUNISHMENT, AND PUBLIC OPINION

THE survey points out that Cleveland has institutions typifying three different ideas of the way in which offenders should be treated :

The city and county jails belong to the age before prison reform. They typify the medieval view that offenders are the "scum of the earth," and that to purify the soul is to mortify the flesh.

The Warrensville correction farm was conceived in a fine idealistic period. It was the fruition of a splendid dream, but the revolution which it signified exhausted itself in marking out broad boundary lines. It ignored fundamental details.

The Boys' Farm at Hudson was conceived and built in the same humanitarian era as the Warrensville institution. But it combined the ideal with the practical. It is based upon sound philosophy of treatment and is marked by "that triad of modern progress, common sense, scientific understanding, and effective sympathy."

THE CITY AND COUNTY JAILS

The city jail is housed in the old Champlain Street police station, and is under the general management of the city division of police. It is used only for the detention of prisoners charged with violations of ordinances and other minor offenses. Except for a few unusual cases, the period of incarceration is from twelve hours to four days. The present condition of this jail is indescribably wretched. Its administration is characterized not only by lack of adequate facilities, but also by the absence of humane treatment of those confined there. The abandonment of the city jail will be necessary during the year 1922, on account of an extensive public improvement which will use the land on which the jail is now located.

The county jail is used for the imprisonment of men and women charged with a felony who are awaiting or undergoing trial. It is under the jurisdiction of the sheriff of Cuyahoga County. It houses something over 100 prisoners. No discussion is needed to convince the people of Cleveland of the utterly unsatisfactory condition of this jail. It partakes

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of most of the sordidness of the city jail. Its administration allows too great commingling of prisoners and lacks safeguards against the smuggling in of contraband articles. Moreover, the guards employed are of a very unsatisfactory type.

The general recommendations of the survey concerning the city and county jails are that, pending the building of a new structure which is now contemplated, the administration of both be improved and some attempt be made to put them in a clean and sanitary condition.

THE DEPARTMENT OF WELFARE AND THE WARRENSVILLE WORKHOUSE

The Department of Welfare of the city of Cleveland is administered under a director appointed by the mayor. This director has jurisdiction over the Warrensville correction farm, the Boys' Farm at Hudson, the Girls' Farm, and the probation office. The survey states that there has never been sufficiently well-defined administrative unity within the department. It states that it is a paper federation of bureaus and departments without administrative cohesion. Recommendations are made which are intended to supply the administrative unity necessary under the Director of Welfare.

The Warrensville workhouse is located on what is known as the Cooley Farms at Warrensville, 12 miles from Cleveland. The workhouse building is a comparatively new two-story structure, well lighted and ventilated, and built in the form of a square inclosing completely a large yard used by prisoners. The institution is built on the dormitory plan, and has only a few cells. The census of the building varies between 400 and 800, with 480 as a fair average. Of these, about 50 are women. The inmates represent all grades of offenders, from petty short-term delinquents to prisoners charged with serious crime or habitual offenders charged with ordinary offenses. There were at the time of the survey about 40 prisoners charged with serious crimes. The criticisms of the survey apply both to the style of the building itself and to the administration at the time when the survey was made. The survey states that it is very unfortunate that the building should have been built on the dormitory plan, which permits too great a commingling of various kinds of prisoners and which defeats the purpose for which they were sent. The criticisms of the administration are much more serious. The survey found a general lack of pla.nning at the head of the institution. There was a tendency on the part of each officer to treat infractions of rules much as he deemed wise without definite control by the superintendent. The employment of prisoners was marked by prevailing idleness and lack of well-planned work. There was a lack of use of prisoners in road work,

[40 1

probably on account of an excessive number of escapes during the past year.

The survey recommends improvement in the administration of the institution through a more careful study of the aptitudes and the mental and physical ability of the inmates, through the introduction of educational facilities and more adequate reception, classification, and creditmarking methods.

The Cleveland Boys' Farm at Hudson is highly commended by the survey. This institution is located about 35 miles from Cleveland. It is a city farm colony institution, with eight main cottages for the housing of the boys. The population usually averages about 140 boys, who are selected by the superintendent from among the boys who are committed to the Detention Home by the Juvenile Court. The survey found that the superintendent is able, through wise and practical management, to utilize in a very marked degree the facilities that are at hand, that he has a definite, well-organized plan of operation, and follows humane, though practical, methods in his administration.

The Girls' Farm, which is located at Warrensville, was, at the time when the survey was made, in a process of reorganization. Mter this process was complete, the survey reexamined the institution and found that many of the practical features of the administration of the Boys' Farm have become characteristic of this institution for girls. It is now a thoroughly modern institution in its administration, and is hampered only by a lack of a proper building and proper facilities for administration.

PAROLES

FROM THE WORKHOUSE

The Director of Welfare, with his parole office, and the superintendent at the workhouse jointly exercise the power to parole from the Warrensville workhouse. The survey speaks in commendatory terms of Director Blossom's great interest in the work of parole, and the extent of his investigation of the circumstances of individual cases. However, a more extensive record system, both in the parole office and at the workhouse, is recommended.

FROM STATE INSTITUTIONS

State institutions were not included in the survey, except in a somewhat casual manner, in cooperation with the careful and extensive work done by the Bureau of Public Efficiency in Columbus in investigating state institutions and state methods of correction. The so-called Norwood Bill, passed in 1921, is strongly condemned by the survey .. This

[ 41 )

bill has struck a very serious blow at the indeterminate sentence law by authorizing the courts to fix within the limits fixed by law a minimum duration of sentences in felony cases. In its place the survey recommended the enactment of a law similar to a New York law, under which the court sentences the prisoner to the penitentiary for the statutory maximum, but with no minimum. Mter the prisoner is received at the penitentiary a study is made of the information which the court had at the time of sentence, and of all information the parole board and the penitentiary officials are able to secure. This is embodied in a report and forwarded to the judge presiding in the court where sentence was imposed, with a recommendation of a specific minimum sentence. The court then has the opportunity to determine, upon the basis of more adequate information than he could possibly have at the trial, the minimum sentence which the prisoner should receive.

PROBATION IN THE MUNICIPAL COURT

Cleveland was one of the first cities to establish a probation department in its Municipal Court. The survey, however, finds that little or no progress has been made in this line of 'work since it was started many years ago.

The probation system of Cleveland's Municipal Court has two branches-one a probation office for adult men and the other for women. Technically, both offices are under the probation officer for men. But in fact they are now two entirely separate offices without unified plans and with inadequate facilities for carrying on their work. The chief probation officer has two assistants, and the probation officer for women has two. These six officers are attempting to do the work which should be done by 20 officers. They have no clerks or typists. The filing system is not adequate for the work, and the entire surroundings are such that good work is almost impossible. The men's probation office is conducted with an utter lack of efficiency. There is no administrative ability back of the work. The chief probation officer is without a constructive plan, but makes an effort day by day to meet the problems of the day. The probation officer for women and her two assistants ha:ve a much better plan of operation. There is a definite plan of work, a consistent and fairly well-kept record, a fair system of reports, and a follow-up system, which is as well thought out and administered as facilities will permit.

The Women's Protective Association, a private organization supported by the Community Fund, has an office in the Municipal Court. Its work is unofficial. It gives assistance to both divisions of the proba

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tion department, and is willing to furnish field investigators and to assist in clerical work. However, it cannot be effective until a harmonious working basis is established between itself and the official probation department. Such a relationship does not now exist.

PARDONS

The Ohio Institute for Public Efficiency published, on December 1, 1921, a report of a study of Ohio's pardon system, which is published as an appendix to the survey. The following is a summary of this report :

OHIO'S PARDONING SYSTEM

In the past twenty-two years 837 pardons and commutations have been granted to prisoners in the Ohio penitentiary by the respective governors, or an average of 38 per year. The number varies greatly from year to year, as shown in three successive years, when 21, 41, and 75 were granted. Nearly two-thirds of those committed for first and second degree murder during the ten-year period 1900 to 1909 inclusive, totaling 211, were released by pardon or commutation before November 15, 1921. On this date only nine of the 211 remained.

In the six-year period, ending June 30, 1921, 384 individuals received 393 pardons and commutations after serving an average term of three years, four months, and twenty-six days each. The average time served by the 121 "life termers " thus released was six years, eight months, and twenty-five days each. Of the 93 first-degree murderers received from 1900 to 1909 inclusive, 23 served less than ten years, and of the 118 second-degree murderers similarly received, 55 served less than ten years.

The principal reason officially assigned by governors for granting pardons was "recommended by the boards of pardon and clemency." This, however, is not a sufficiently definite statement. In some cases the real reason appeared to be the view that the minimum sentence was too long. Forty-one were released during the six-year period ending June 30, 1921, in honor of certain holidays.

Three were released because of "lack of mental responsibility." In other words, a person convicted of "assault to kill " is turned loose on a community because of a mental condition which increases the probability of another offense.

It is recommended by the survey that pardons be granted only in cases where adequate evidence indicates that an injustice has been done, and in order at least partially to remedy that injustice ; or in rare cases

[43]

to reward extraordinary deeds of heroism or fidelity. In all other cases where executive action is deemed necessary it should be in the form of a commutation which should be granted only where adequate evidence indicates that the minimum sentence was unduly long and that the interests of society, as well as the individual, will be promoted. The sentimental practice of granting holiday commutations with little or no apparent other reason should be discontinued.

PROPOSED NEW CRIMINAL COURTS BUILDING

The very great importance of the building of a new structure to house the criminal courts and the various jails is indicated by the inadequacy of the present quarters. In all departments studied by the survey there is an appalling lack of housing facilities and a tffildency on the part of public officials to excuse their shortcomings because of this inadequacy. Therefore, the improvement of criminal justice in Cleveland demands that something be done immediately to provide proper housing of the institutions for administering criminal justice.

Six times the people of this county voted upon the question of issuing bonds for a new criminal courts building. In five of the six instances the proposal was disapproved. At the present time the whole matter is seemingly deadlocked by a determination on the part of the voters not to allow the construction of such a building under present plans.

The survey made some study of the plans and of the various proposals submitted by public and semi-public bodies, and recommended that police headquarters, criminal courts, prosecutors' offices, and county and city jail should be housed in a single building of the office building type. The Juvenile Court should be eliminated from the plans for this building and should be provided for either in a new building to be erected adjacent to the Detention Home or in a public school building.

THE JUVENILE COURT

The survey's consideration of the Juvenile Court was limited chiefly to the scope and methods of the work of the probation department and to the important question of the application of psychiatry to the work of the court.

It found that the administrative shortcomings of the probation department 'were very great. The chief probation officer's time was too largely given to individual cases. His record system was inadequate, too much depending upon his ability to remember details. The mass of work which he attempted to do himself was so great as to prevent

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him from adequately seeing his problem in its larger aspects, while too great discretion was permitted to rest with his office in matters involving very vital interests of persons coming to the court.

When the survey was made the Juvenile Court was entirely dependent upon the schools for mental examinations of cases of juvenile delinquency. The psychologist for the Boys' School conducted examinations of children committed to the Detention Home, while certain cases selected by the judge are examined by the head of the school psychological clinic.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The most important recommendations of the survey relating to the Juvenile Court are :

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MEDICAL SCIENCE AND CRIME

SCIENCE AND CRIME

"There was a time when medicine was practised on much the same basis. All the ailments of the human body were believed to be machinations of evil spirits. The reactions of chemical substances in the

HE only way to stop us is to find out who and what we Tare and what we're good for. Then you've got to make punishment severe enough or opportunity good enough for us. You don't do either now. -Statement of Expert Criminal

retort were thought to be presided over by good and evil spirits. The scientifi attitude which has removed these personal elements in the fields of pure science and of medicine is capable of doing the same in criminology.

"When the public becomes convinced that there are in the community specially trained persons who understand delinquency and whoare able to evaluate the ,various factors in behavior difficulties, the result will be like that already witnessed in the field of public health. Few persons today have to be coerced to be protected against disease or to be treated when they are ill. When the public has learned to regard behavior difficulties, delinquency, and crime as manifestations of mental difficulties requiring treatment, just as physical ailments do, and provides institutions and officers to deal with these troubles as mental disease, rather than from the point of view of punitive justice, we shall be able to record advances as notable as those of the public health

[46 )

movement. And just as public health machinery has made large cities and small country villages healthy places in which to live, so this new public mental health movement will make our communities safe and sane places in which to live." (P. 440.)

THE ADULT CRIMINAL

More has been done in Cleveland in utilizing medical science in dealing with the juvenile offender than with the adult because of the slowness of public opinion to admit the lack of personal responsibility on the part of the adult offender. The survey found that "except for the occasional perfectly obvious case, no use is made of medical and more especially mental treatment in dealing with adult offenders."

And yet "experience in some of our reformatories and penitentiaries has conclusively shown that the study of mentality yields information which no modern institution can neglect . .· One need merely refer to the well-known work at Sing Sing, Concord, Elmira, and Bedford Hills, not to mention the institutions of New Jersey, Michigan, and Illinois, and especially the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. And what has come more and more to be considered indispensable in these institutions has proved itself of similar value to the courts. Mental examinations and personality studies are now insisted upon as a sine qua non in the work of practically all the juvenile courts of the country. The municipal courts of Chicago, Boston, Detroit, and Baltimore have psychopathic clinics or laboratories to which are referred all doubtful cases." (P. 447.)

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STUDY OF ADULT BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

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4. There should be a mental health officer of the police department, who should devote his full time to the mental problems of the police force and of police work. He could be used in training policemen, make mental and personality examinations of candidates for appointments, and assist in determining promotions, especially to the detective force. He could also be present at special examinations of suspects and assist in securing confessions from them. I

JUVENILE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

"To those who look back from a secure position in society upon an adventurous and unlucky childhood or youth, it must appear that every individual has been, at one time or another, more or less delinquent. 'There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bunyan,' expresses their unconscious feeling when they consider criminality." While this wide-spread feeling may permit the public at large to look with some sympathy upon juvenile delinquency and to permit a more scientific method of dealing with juvenile delinquents, it does not adequately explain the problem of delinquency to one who would differentiate between the significance of a single act and a series of reactions shown in the career of a delinquent individual. In other words, acts of delinquency, which appear to the ordinary person identical, may actually have been produced by entirely different kinds of individual characteristics. One may be the mere outbreak of the mischievous spirit of a normal person, while the other may be a manifestation of a hidden but potential criminal tendency. The only way to discriminate and thus to treat properly the various behavior problems of juvenile delinquency is through the assistance of persons skilled in psychiatry.

Such skill in scientific treatment of criminality is in Cleveland most inadequate and scattered even for juvenile delinquents, and is practically nOll-tAititent in the case of adults.

A CHILDREN'S INSTITUTE

. .....n outstanding feature of Dr. Adler's report is his recommendation for the creation of a children's institute, to be under the jurisdiction of the board of education, and to furnish service to all the organizations which need the expert service in mental health. Under this institute there should be mental health stations, which should resemble dispensaries rather than hospitals. Every effort should be made to get visiting nurses, policemen, and such institutions as the Juvenile Court, the Humane Society, and the public school teachers to avail themselves of the services of these stations.

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Dr. Adler points out that, in Cleveland, the best plan would be to establish a psychopathic hospital as a part of the city hospital, and ultimately a psychiatric institute in connection with Lakeside or Fairview Hospital, in addition to the proposed "children's institute." Only in this way can the large number of behavior cases which require observation in a city as large as Cleveland be adequately cared for.

THE OBSOLETE OFFICE OF CORONER

When the survey started, the Cleveland Academy of Medicine appealed to the Foundation asking that attention be directed to the distressing need either of drastic legislation reforming the coroner's office or its complete abolition. Consequently a study of this office was added to Dr. Adler's report.

Shakespeare, in writing Hamlet, sought to bring some comedy into one of the world's most serious ' plays. The high spot in this bit of humor--when one may imagine the Elizabethan audience indulged in its loudest burst of laughter--is a reference to the " crowner " or coroner -a joke 300 years ago.

CROWNER'S QUEST LAW

First Clown: "Here lies the water ; good : if the man go to

this water and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he goes ;

mark you that ; but if the water come to him and drown him,

he drowns not himself; argal, he that is not guilty of his own

death shortens not his own life."

Second Clown: "But is this the law? "

First Clown: "Ay, marry, is't : crowner's quest [coroner's in

questl law."

-HAMLET

Unlike most humor, the coroner's office becomes funnier with age.

The arresting bit of seriousness is the wonder at its survival in the midst of the growth of civilization in America.

The office of coroner is governed entirely by statute. It does not appear in the state constitutio}la f9!i\\nate circumstance for those who seek to abolish it. The coraUer,r,chleI· duty is to determine in cases of sudden or unexplained de,atl) '£he, ceiif.death and whether it resulted

. . . .. .. . . . .

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THE BAR, THE PRESS, AND THE PUBLIC

THE ATMOSPHERE IN WHICH JUSTICE IS ADMINISTERED , ' pUBLIC opinion " is inchoate, it is irresponsible, it cannot fight

back when it is assailed, it may be to blame and it may not,-no

one knows and no one can know,-therefore it is blamed for most of our shortcomings. But it does have certain characteristic and somewhat specific tendencies. It does demand severity at times and permits laxness at other times. Consequently it is a factor which can be made the subject of study and investigation.

The survey could not and did not go into the vast ramifications implied in a study of why the public permits certain things to be done. It did, however, select two of the outstanding forces which in any community influence, on the one hand, the administration of justice, and, on the other hand, the attitude of the public itself. These two influences bear a great share of the responsibility for the condition of criminal justice as it is now administered. They are the bar and the press.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BAR

In the last analysis, the bar cannot escape in a large measure the responsibility for the quality of the administration of justice. Judges and prosecutors are recruited from the legal profession; the prevailing standards of the bar inevitably influence the quality of judicial service, and the public must largely look to the lawyers, with their intimate knowledge of and association with the courts, for informed leadership. The bar constitutes a specially privileged group which can influence and inform public opinion. The survey gave especial attention to this problem, the reports on the Criminal Courts and Prosecution refer very definitely to the responsibility of the bar, and Dean Pound in his summary volume places great emphasis upon it.

The outstanding observations of the survey concerning the Cleveland bar as a whole are three in number :

1. It is not well educated.

method of study, at one time the orthodox way to prepare for the bar, has now become the least satisfactory. The American Bar Association has condemned this method of preparation, a view the survey shares.

Some idea of the importance of the three law schools can be gained from the estimate of the survey that of the 1400 practising attorneys in Cleveland, 280 are graduates of the Western Reserve University Law School, 300 of the Cleveland Law School, and 20 of the John Marshall Law School. A still more significant indication of the importance of these law schools in the administration of criminal justice is found in the fact that " the members of the bar of Cleveland who have acted as prosecutors in the past twenty years in Cleveland, 27 are graduates of the Cleveland Law School, 11 of the Law School of Western Reserve University, none of the John Marshall Law School, and 11 of other law schools, including one from Harvard, five from Michigan, one from Cornell, and two from Ohio State."

Of the relative amount of instruction provided by the night law schools, which have come to furnish such a large proportion of the bar of Cleveland, Dean Pound states, "It is not controversial that the standard of the night law schools in Cleveland is, in important respects, below the standard of such schools in other cities of the size of Cleveland; and very much below what it ought to be. The night schools in Cleveland require of the student 648 class-room hours as against 1080, the minimum in the day schools. Note what this means in the one matter of criminal law and procedure. One of the Cleveland night schools gives 26 classroom hours to this subject; the other gives 30. On the other hand, not to go outside of Ohio, the three admittedly first-class schools, Cincinnati, Ohio State, and Western Reserve, give to that subject 72, 72, and 90 hours respectively. Yet it is more than likely that the student with onethird of the legal training will be the one who will practise in the criminal courts. With one exception the night schools in Cleveland teach only the subjects required for the bar examination. They have inadequate library facilities, and their students have no time to use libraries if such facilities were at hand. But this means that they have no time to read the books that every lawyer ought to read if he is to form an adequate conception of his duties and of the system of administering justice of which he is to be a part."

The survey does not take those in charge of the night law schools to task for these inadequate standards. It points out that with the standard set by the state the elimination of the night law schools would throw most of their students into the hands of lawyers who would " instruct " them in a still more unsatisfactory manner. Moreover, that it is not

[ 53 J

"practicable to call upon the night law schools run for profit to adopt a higher standard. It is an economic fact that, so long as law schools run for private profit may freely enter the field of legal education, no such school can raise its standards above the minimum which will enable applicants for admission to the bar to pass the bar examinations. If one attempts to do so by requiring a longer period of study or more hours of study a week, it will at once lose patronage to a school which keeps to the minimum standard, or it will call into existence a school which will secure students on the basis of the minimum standard. This has already been demonstrated in Cleveland."

The heart of the matter is the lack of adequate standards imposed by the state authorities. The survey shows that " 85 per cent. of those who apply for examination pass the Ohio bar examination, whereas in New York 42 per cent. pass (on an average for the past ten years) and in Illinois 62 per cent. (on an average for the past nine years) . The only practicable remedy is to raise the standards for admission and thus enable the night schools to exact a reasonable education."

In the matter of the standards for admission to the bar in Ohio the survey recommends that rigid restrictions and supervision be imposed upon private instruction by practising attorneys ; that the required fouryear high-school course should be completed before the beginning of the three-year legal course; that the character of legal study be prescribed by state authority in more detail ; the exercise of visitorial powers by the bar examiners or committees appointed by them ; and a rigid inquiry into the moral fitness of applicants, by a committee of the bar.

THE AVOIDANCE OF CRIMINAL PRACTICE

The replies to a questionnaire sent to all the members of the Cleveland bar developed the startling fact that, except in extraordinary cases and with a very few notable exceptions, the better members of the Cleveland bar ignore criminal practice entirely. Of the replies received, 40 per cent. accepted no criminal cases whatsoever, while only 3 per cent. took criminal practice regularly. The reasons given for not accepting criminal practice were in most cases financial, while others expressed ethical or esthetic objections.

Mr. Bettman's conclusion as to this avoidance of criminal practice is as follows :

" As a result, with some notable and praiseworthy exceptions, the practice in those courts is left to the lawyers of lesser sensitiveness regarding professional practices. The criminal branch of the administration of justice, dealing as it

[ 54)

does with the protection of the community against crime, the promotion of peace, safety, and morals of the inhabitants, the lives and liberties of men, and, therefore, from any intelligent point of view, the more important branch of the administration of the law, has become a sort of outlaw field which many a lawyer avoids as he avoids the slums of the city.

"Criminal practice must be made a field in which the lawyer and the gentleman (in the American sense of that word) can feel at home. And one of the courses which might promote this is for the lawyers, who are both lawyers and gentlemen, to return to the first principles regarding the position of the lawyer as an officer of the law and accept criminal practice. If the man accused of crime knows that he can obtain first-class talent at a reasonable compensation, he will have no excuse for taking his case to the shyster or police court hanger-on, and both the courts and prosecutors will then have some justification for feeling particularly suspicious and cautious in cases in which the defendants retain unscrupulous or disreputable lawyers." (Pages 220-221.)

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE BAR

Cleveland has a bar association including 800 of the 1400 members of the city bar. For about three years it has maintained an office and a paid secretary. During this time there has been a marked increase in its activity as an organization. It has actively pushed important legislation and has investigated charges against members of the bar. It became very active in the McGannon case, pushing the perjury cases growing out of his trial, and subsequently forced his resignation. It influenced the governor to appoint a new chief justice of its own choosing, and actively campaigned for the election of this new chief justice for a period of years. Its recent record as compared with city bar associations in general is very commendable.

Yet there is needed a more powerful organization of the bar than any voluntary association. Dean Pound states : "The possibilities of corporate organization have been shown abundantly in the experience of incorporation of the lower branch of the profession in England. Bar associations may do much. Yet membership in them is voluntary, and the officers and committees of these associations are busy men, whose primary responsibilities are to their clients and who can give but a residue of their energies to professional discipline. . . . The plan of the American Judicature Society for corporate organization of the bar deserves to be studied and pondered by all lawyers who have the good of the profession and the improvement of the administration of justice at heart."

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THE NEWSPAPERS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

In the course of the survey those who were studying the police, prosecution, and the criminal courts found themselves encountering the newspapers as a persistent and potent factor in the problems studied. Public officials, lawyers, and private citizens all regarded the press as an unescapable factor in the situation. When it is considered that from 6 per cent. to 28 per cent. of the total news space in Cleveland papers is given over to news relative to the administration of justice, it is quite plain that the nature of what is printed, its quality and underlying standards, and the general atmosphere thereby generated, must exert a most profound influence upon those who administer justice and upon public opinion.

Recognizing this importance of the newspapers, the survey employed M. K. Wisehart, an experienced journalist, to make a study of the Cleveland newspapers in their relation to the administration of criminal justice. His report, while not in any sense an exhaustive treatment of the subject, clearly establishes certain important ways in which the influence of the newspapers is exerted in the administration of criminal justice. These criticisms are somewhat extensively documented by extracts from the newspapers themselves.

INTERFERENCE BY NEWSPAPERS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT

The most common form which this takes is the irresponsible publication of statements which embarrass the official detection of wrongdoing. Numerous examples are given of publication of news which might very easily warn criminals of plans made by officials for their arrest.

THE MAKING OF ATMOSPHERE

In a criminal case newspapers have the power to create atmosphere.

Public hostility or sympathy, against or for, an accused may influence the jury in its determination of guilt. Numerous instances are cited of the selection and treatment of newspaper material in a style plainly intended either to condone or to condemn the accused. "Human interest is the excuse: corruption of the community's standards may be the result."

Another kind of "trial by newspapers" is the deliberate printing of signed confessions or affidavits in connection with a trial. The chief evil of this is that it exposes the prosecutor's case before the case comes to trial.

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" CRIME WAVES "

In recent years the phrase "crime wave " has been invented, and it has become fixed in popular belief that periodic outbreaks of crime are occurring. In order to determine accurately whether the great increase in crime publicity during a "crime wave " is really an indication of a great increase in crime, a study was made by the survey of the felonies reported and the inches of news space in. four weeks of January, 1919, a month which witnessed one of the most prominently displayed "waves " of recent years.

The net result of the study shows that during the first two weeks 345 felonies were reported as compared with 363 during the last two weeks-not a great increase in crime. But during the first two weeks the three Cleveland newspapers gave 925 inches to crime and during the last two 6642. Thus what actually happened was a "crime news wave."

Newspapers often sponsor and carry through reforms marking real improvements in the administration of justice. Some newspaper campaigns, however, merely secure from public officials a seeming response to the things demanded.

We have already seen the effect of sensationalism upon the caliber of the bench itself. The judge who does the extraordinary or sensational thing is advertised. The publicity he gets insures his reelection regardless of the real merits of his claim to another term. In this striving for cheap publicity the newspapers constantly lend such judges powerful but pernicious assistance.

THE PUBLIC

WHAT IS "THE PUBLIC " IN CLEVELAND?

A cardinal principle in the philosophy of Dean Pound is the need of radical readjustment of legal institutions to fit the changed conditions of modern urban life. We are striving to meet problems peculiar to modern industrial life with a criminal law and judicial institutions devised to fit rural conditions of generations ago. This need of readjustment is especially marked in Cleveland. The population is unstable ; school statistics show that 40 per cent. of the children in the public schools moved during the year 1920-1921. The population is unstable and cosmopolitan, but the institutions are those of a past age.

"The ancestry of the court system and procedure in Ohio goes back to the Ordinance of 1787, which was passed by the Continental Congress for the government of the Northwest Territory. This represented the first effort in this country

[57]

to set up a judicial structure independently of the British crown-the courts of the seaboard states having all been developed under royal governors. It was the first time an English-speaking people had been allowed to experiment freely with a whole body of law. The precaution was taken, however, to forbid the legislative arm of the new territory to pass any laws not in effect in the original states.

"General Arthur St. Clair and his group of circuit-riding judges of common pleas, restricted as they were in the letter of the statute, developed a sort of rough-and-ready forest law. The Virginia code seems to have been their model. To members of the survey staff of the Cleveland Foundation who came from New England there were like unfamiIiarities, traceable in part to the Virginia origins. These old courts, set up to punish offenses against the peace of the forest and the plantations on its fringe, have been attempting in latter days to pacify urban and industrial populations. The institutions of the Old Dominion, carried into the wilderness by the gentlemen of the Ohio Company, now constitute the government of 800,000 Clevelanders."

Under rural conditions the population, small and homogeneous, could in a measure keep its eyes upon the administration of criminal law and enforce a degree of discipline upon the public official which insured a fairly adequate administration of the law. Today the average citizen of Cleveland knows the lawyers and judges only from what he reads in the newspapers, and most casually from his experiences in the courts of litigation. Under such a handicap the judgment of the average citizen concerning the public official and his knowledge of what is going on is bound to be scanty and confused.

THE NEED OF INFORMATION AND LEADERSHIP

With such a "public opinion" to deal with there is need of strong civic leadership. The survey made some attempt to evaluate this leadership. It found a number of agencies, each in a limited degree interested in the administration of criminal justice. The Cleveland Automobile Club watches and promotes the prosecution of criminal cases involving the theft of automobiles; the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, through its Safety Council, watches traffic cases, and through its Retail Merchants' Board the prosecution of cases of fraud and shoplifting involving retail merchants; the Humane Society, cases involving children and animals; the Advertising Club, through its Better Business Commission, the prosecution of "fake" advertisements; and the Woman's Protective Association, certain cases involving women. In addition the Civic League reports upon and recommends candidates for office, including judges and prosecutors, while the Bar Association takes

a. poll of its members on candidates for the bench and publishes the

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result. But these agencies, each effective in a limited sphere, do not include within the scope of their interest the entire problem of criminal justice.

In practically all the reports the problem of improvement came ultimately to the need of an informed and active public opinion. Such an opinion should not operate casually as in the past-deeply concerned for a while and then indifferent. It should require a high standard from its public officials and, in order properly to measure their work, should have reliable means of information.

The survey was intended to do no more than analyze the problem in its entirety, to point out the essential improvements, and to show the way by which such changes can be brought about. More important still, it had an educational value. It was intended to capture public interest, to get a larger number of people to think simultaneously about this specific problem, and to use this public interest to insure a permanent result. Those responsible for the survey could afford to indulge a quiet bit of inward amusement when the cynics said "yes, but everyone will soon forget it." It was intended from the beginning not merely to rouse interest, but to use an aroused interest to promote permanent and intelligently directed facilities for informing and leading public opinion. This result has been achieved in the formation of the Cleveland Association for Criminal Justice.

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THE CLEVELAND ASSOCIATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE

HE Cleveland Bar Association, in its resolution requesting the TFoundation to make the survey, pledged itself not only to cooperate in the making of the survey, but to aid "in bringing about the adoption of the constructive measures recommended." In line with this pledge the Bar A..'I8ociation, after the survey reports had been given to the public, selected a committee " to take up with the Cleveland Foundation • . . the matter of establishing an organization for the promotion of efficient administration of criminal justice." The chairman of this committee was Homer H. McKeehan. AP, a result of a number of conferences of not only representatives of the Bar Association and the Foundation, but a number of other civic bodies, there was formed in December, 1921, the Cleveland Association for Criminal Justice. This organization is an association of the great civic organizations of the city. The number of charter members is 13, including the following organizations :

The Cleveland Bar Association

The Cleveland Automobile Club

The Cleveland Chamber of Commerce

The Cleveland Advertising Club

The Cleveland Academy of Medicine

The Cleveland Real Estate Board

The Civic League of Cleveland

The League of Women Voters

The Women's City Club

The Cleveland Builders Exchange

The Cuyahoga County Council of the American Legion

The Cleveland Chamber of Industry

The Industrial Association

Under the articles of the association each of these organizations elects two members of the board of directors, with an additional 12 selected at large. This board of directors chooses an executive committee and

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the officers of the organization. As has been mentioned, the members of the association are organizations, not persons. There is, however, provision for the enlistment of smaller civic organizations, such as church clubs, as auxiliary members, and for interested individuals as associate members.

Some idea of the scope of activities of the organization may be gained from the names of the standing committees :

Prosecution

In general the functions of the association will be as follows :

The association has assured itself of financial support and plans to continue for an indefinite period of not less than five years. As operating director, the association has selected Charles DeWoody, who took office January I, 1922.

There has thus been created an agency, backed by the aggregate power of the most important civic organizations (including over 50,000 individual members), to represent the all-important public interest in the processes by which life and property are protected in a great city.

The Association for Criminal Justice has been operating since January I, 1922. While thoroughgoing changes in the methods and machinery of criminal justice are not to be expected so soon, there are ample indications that such changes are under way. The most important service of the association must be that of maintaining a constant check upon the administration of criminal justice, to furnish a means for an intelligent alert public appraisal of the efficiency of law enforcement. The chief means through which this will be done by the Association is through its card index protective system.

On March I, 1922, the association began the operation of a carefully worked-out system of card indexing felonies. It is possible, through this system, to determine at once the status of every felony and major

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crime committed in the county, with complete information as to the nature of the offense, the person or persons arrested, the injured party, and the exact status of the prosecution. It also records every bondsman, with essential facts concerning him, thus bringing automatically to the attention of the association the "professional bondsman." It thus records at every step in prosecution the name of the judge, the prosecutor, the attorney for the defense, and any other official who participates in a case, thus permanently fixing responsibility for every action in every felony case. There is no other one office in the courts or police department where complete information regarding a given case can be obtained. The survey found in every division of its investiga-

VERY once in a while the accumulation of miscarriages Eof justice, scandals, and unpunished crimes arouses the community and it institutes a special grand jury investigation or a specially aggressive newspaper campaign or a survey, and then, forgetting that the accumulation was the inevitable result of the habitual defects in the machinery, it turns to something-new, whereupon the old ways go on toward the next inevitable accumulation. Unfortunately, since royalty and autocracy have gone out of fashion, there is no device yet invented whereby the public can leave public matters entirely to public officials and at the same time get the results which it desires. Continuous public check, scrutiny, reform, praise, condemnation, election, discharge, are necessary. -BETl'MAN, Survey Report

tion that much official carelessness and favoritism was possible because little or no responsibility could be fixed in a given case. It also found that the police court parasites, such as the political lawyer and the professional bondsman, were dependent for existence chiefly upon the assurance that they would leave no tracks behind. In view of these facts it is easy to see the great significance of such a public check as the card index system worked out by the association. It makes possible the turning of the curative light of publicity upon all the dark corners in the process of criminal procedure.

The association, through its director, has been in constant contact with judges, prosecutors, and police officials. A fine spirit of cooperation

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has been shown everywhere. Many important changes have been worked out by officials with the cooperation of the association. One noteworthy example has been the elimination of preliminary hearings in felony cases in the Municipal Court. The survey pointed out the excessive delay in criminal cases caused by the large number of steps in the process. It indicated that in 1919 an average of twenty-one and one-half days elapsed between arrest and indictment. Under the new system in the month of March this was reduced to six and three-quarter days.

Another change worked out with the cooperation of the association has been the promulgation, by the chief of police, of regulations providing for much more effective assistance by the police to prosecution of cases.

OTHER INDICATIONS OF MORE EFFECTIVE CRIMINAL JUSTICE

A number of marked improvements have been made in the administration of criminal justice which may or may not be the result of the survey or of the efforts of the association. They are in any event the product of an increased public interest in which the survey played some part. The most important of these are as follows :

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has, in general, since January 1, 1922, enjoyed a marked decrease in the number of crimes committed. This is all the more remarkable when the "crime waves " are disturbing the security of other cities, notably New York. Cleveland can, we believe, rightly claim that it has passed through a winter without a "crime wave. "

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THE COMPLETE REPORT OF THE CRIME SURVEY