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Courts and Criminals

by Arthur Cheney Train (1875–1945)

  • Free to read
  • 5 hours to read
  • 11 chapters
  • Reading level: 10th to 12th grade

"Courts and Criminals" by Arthur Cheney Train is a collection of essays written between the years 1905-1910 that explores the complexities of the American legal system, particularly concerning criminal law and the rights of individuals. The book delves into the practical application of laws and the often conflicting responsibilities of the police and judiciary, revealing the intricate balance between maintaining public safety and preserving individual liberties in a society that prides itself on its just legal framework. The opening of the work introduces a case in New York involving a young man named Duffy, who was subjected to police procedures without lawful cause, inciting a debate about the presumption of innocence and the rights of citizens. Train discusses the implications of such abuses, highlighting a pattern of "mugging" individuals who have not been convicted, and critiques the hypocrisy within the legal system that allows such practices to persist under the guise of necessity. He argues that while laws are intended to protect the citizenry, they are implemented by fallible individuals, leading to inconsistencies and ethical dilemmas in law enforcement. Overall, the beginning of "Courts and Criminals" sets the stage for an incisive examination of the failings of the criminal justice system and the fundamental rights that underpin American democracy.

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  • Crime · United States
  • Criminal justice, Administration of · United States
  • Criminals · United States

Read the opening

Chapter I: The Pleasant Fiction of the Presumption of Innocence

There was a great to-do some years ago in the city of New York over an ill-omened young person, Duffy by name, who, falling into the bad graces of the police, was most incontinently dragged to headquarters and "mugged" without so much as "By your leave, sir," on the part of the authorities. Having been photographed and measured (in most humiliating fashion) he was turned loose with a gratuitous warning to behave himself in the future and see to it that he did nothing which might gain him even more invidious treatment.

Now, although many thousands of equally harmless persons had been similarly treated, this particular outrage was made the occasion of a vehement protest to the mayor of the city by a certain member of the judiciary, who pointed out that such things in a civilized community were shocking beyond measure, and called upon the mayor to remove the commissioner of police and all his staff of deputy commissioners for openly violating the law which they were sworn to uphold. But, the commissioner of police, who had sometimes enforced the penal statutes in a way to make him unpopular with machine politicians, saw nothing wrong in what he had done, and, what was more, said so most outspokenly. The judge said, "You did," and the commissioner said, "I didn't." Specifically, the judge was complaining of what had been done to Duffy, but more generally he was charging the police with despotism and oppression and with systematically disregarding the sacred liberties of the citizens which it was their duty to protect.

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Contents

  1. Chapter I: The Pleasant Fiction of the Presumption of Innocence
  2. Chapter II: Preparing a Criminal Case for Trial
  3. Chapter III: Sensationalism and Jury Trials
  4. Chapter IV: Why Do Men Kill?
  5. Chapter V: Detectives and Others
  6. Chapter VI: Detectives Who Detect
  7. Chapter VII: Women in the Courts
  8. Chapter VIII: Tricks of the Trade
  9. Chapter IX: What Fosters Crime
  10. Chapter X: Insanity and the Law
  11. Chapter XI: The Mala Vita in America

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About this edition

This free edition of Courts and Criminals by Arthur Cheney Train comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #5268, released 2004-03-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Essays, Letters & Speeches, History - American, Law & Criminology.

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