HUMANIZING A COURT
By James A. CollinsFormer City Judge of Indianapolis.
[A paper read before the National Conference of Charities and Correction, Memphis, Tenn., May 12, 1914.]
[A paper read before the National Conference of Charities and Correction, Memphis, Tenn., May 12, 1914.]
It is not my purpose to present a theory for dealing with the poor and unfortunate who make up the daily toll of police duty, but the actual working of a definite plan.
Probation has been defined as a judicial system, under which an offender against penal law, instead of being imprisoned, is given an opportunity to reform himself under supervision and subject to conditions imposed by the court, to the end that if he makes good no penalty will be imposed.
The enactment of a law by the legislature of Indiana in 1907, under which courts may exercise the right to suspend sentence or withhold judgment in the case of adults, made possible the application of the probation system in the administration of justice in circuit and criminal courts and courts having concurrent jurisdiction.
The probation method of dealing with minor offenders in our State was an attempt to follow the spirit of the constitutional provision that “the penal code shall be founded on the principles of reformation and not of vindictive justice.”
The aim of the City Court of Indianapolis during my term of four years was to administer justice tempered with humanity. The welfare of unfortunates, and the saving of women and children from hunger and want, was to the court a matter of greater moment than the piling up of a vast amount of fines and costs. If the efficiency of the court was to be determined by the number of dollars and cents, wrested from offenders, then the constitutional provision above referred to should be rewritten and the law of 1907 repealed. Such a step, however, would be to turn back the dial of human progress one hundred years. So long as the constitution and the laws of the State permit, the people will demand that justice shall be administered upon human lines.
In order that the best possible results might be obtained both for society and the individual, the probation system as established in the City Court of Indianapolis contemplated the following:
The power to suspend sentence where the circumstances seemed to justify has saved many novices in crime from undergoing the harsh punishment that would otherwise be meted out to them, and that seems to be contrary to the constitutional provision that “all penalties shall be proportioned according to the nature of the offense.” As has been well said: “The system under which a father and husband pleading guilty to a charge of larceny, based upon the taking of a bundle of oats or a loaf of bread, was sent up, was often sure to work brutal injustice. That it continued as long as it did is a remarkable fact.”
During my term I suspended judgment in 700 cases and withheld judgment in 7559. Of this latter class less than 3 per cent. were returned for a second or subsequent offense.
While there is no provision under the law for the employment of paid probation officers, adequate supervision in 575 cases was made possible by good citizens, volunteering to serve in that capacity. These probationers were required to furnish the court a monthly report signed by the probation officer. Time will not permit the details of these reports. Each tells its own story of heroic efforts toward right living.
The payment of money fines on installments was a new department in the administration of justice. The old method of collecting money fines which compelled the defendant to pay or replevy the same the moment he was fined was always a source of great hardship on the poor. It was unreasonable to expect a common laborer arrested late at night, and convicted in the morning, to be prepared to settle with the State. If he was unable to pay or make arrangements to have his fine staid for the statutory period, he was sent to prison, not because the court had given him a term of imprisonment, but because he was poor, which is in effect imprisonment for debt. The pitiable scenes of wives and mothers and sobbing children crowding the corridors of the court, pleading for the release of a husband or father, against whom a money fine had been assessed and who was utterly without money to stay or pay the same, was a powerful argument in favor of a plan that would relieve such a deplorable situation.
The power to parole a misdemeanant carried with it the power to direct him to pay into the probation department a dollar a week toward the satisfaction of a fine and costs to be assessed against him when the final payment was made.
Such a plan as this requires no legislative action and could be introduced into any court where the judge has such powers as are granted the courts of Indiana.
In city courts, defendants may be divided into three classes:—Those who can pay the fines assessed against them; those who would pay if they had a chance; and those who wouldn’t pay if they could and couldn’t if they would. The middle class represents very largely mechanics, clerks and laborers, in no sense criminals, but who for some breach of the peace are brought into court and who are generally of a deserving character. It is to this class that the work has been directed. A money fine is their punishment, but instead of imprisoning them, they were paroled with instructions to pay into the probation department each week one dollar or as much as could be spared from the family treasury, until the amount indicated by the court is paid in full. During the four years that this plan was in operation these probationers paid into the court $34,014.
Out of 3832 persons placed on probation to pay fines, 3220 paid their fines and costs in full, while 102 were given credit for partial payments and committed to serve out the balance. However, 205 were unable to pay anything and were committed to the jail or workhouse. In 152 cases, the circumstances of the families were such that the court felt justified in withholding judgment rather than committing the defendants. Out of the entire number placed on probation, 143 did not live up to their agreement with the court, and re-arrests were ordered in each of those cases.
The plan operated to the benefit of the individual in several ways. It saved him his employment; it saved his family from humiliation and disgrace; better than all, it saved his self-respect.
No unfortunates appeal more strongly to the court than the victims of the liquor habit. In all cases of first offenders charged with being drunk, and where the defendant had others dependent upon him for support, the court made it a condition on withholding judgment or suspending the sentence that the defendant take the pledge for a period varying from six months to one year. Three hundred and eighty-two pledges were taken, all of which were kept faithfully but 27.
When the family or relatives could afford it, persons were sent to institutions for treatment, and the records show but one failure. Where the financial condition of the defendant was such that he could not pay for the treatment, arrangements were made for the payment of the money into the probation department in weekly installments, thus assuring the defendant the benefit of the treatment and the institution the satisfaction of its debt. With the assistance of W. H. Roll, a volunteer probation officer, supervision was successfully provided for 136 men charged with drunkenness who had reached the down-and-out stage. Without friends or relatives, and in many instances unemployed, these men were drifting into a condition where they would soon become public charges. The reports furnished the court show that this timely help and assistance was the means of saving these men to useful citizenship.
In the severe cases, where the defendant was bordering on delirium tremens, he was committed to the workhouse and the superintendent informed of his condition. While there were no special arrangements for the treatment of inebriates at the workhouse, the superintendent successfully provided a separate department in the wing formerly used as the woman’s prison. These cases were thoroughly examined by the physician in charge, and such medical and special attention was given to them as the circumstances seemed to justify. While these facilities were inadequate, yet a splendid work was done among this class of unfortunate and harmless offenders.
It was not an infrequent experience for the court to find persons charged with offences of a character that disclosed physical or mental defects. Arrangements were always made for medical care and treatment. In meeting the problem presented by such conditions the court had the co-operation and assistance of the superintendent of the City Hospital, as well as some of the best known physicians and surgeons of Indianapolis.
One of the most difficult problems that confronted the courts was the disposition of minors, when the offense was so serious that the best interests of society would be subserved by incarceration. Through an arrangement with the superintendent of the workhouse, an unused wing of the building was set apart for such offenders, and in this way they were kept separate and apart from the old and hardened offender.
The criminal code of Indiana is absolutely silent upon the question of recovery for loss or damage to property and injuries to the person growing out of criminal acts, except that in cases of malicious trespass the court may fine a defendant a sum equal to twice the amount of the property damaged. To fine a person double the value of the property damaged and, because of his failure to pay the same, place the additional burden on the citizen of supporting him in the workhouse or jail seems in itself an absurdity.
As a part of the probation plan, the court required every person charged with any offense involving the loss or damage to property and injuries to the person to make full and complete restitution to the injured party before the final disposition of the case. Upon a proper showing that restitution has been made, the court was then in a position to take such action as the other facts in the case justified. Under this plan $7,166.83 in restitution money was recovered and paid over to the proper parties.
To Amos W. Butler and Demarchus C. Brown, of the Board of State Charities, was due the credit for the suggestion of a separate session for the trial of women and girls. Acting upon this suggestion, the court set apart Wednesday afternoon for the trial of such cases. To the Local Council of Women was due the credit of putting the suggestion into effect, by guaranteeing the expense of a woman probation officer for the court. To make the separate trials of women and girls something more than a perfunctory task an adequate system of investigating and supervision was absolutely essential. Like all innovations connected with matters pertaining to the work of the police, it was at first looked upon as a fad, and predictions were freely made that the life of the plan would be short because of the nature of the work and the rapidity with which it must be discharged. But notwithstanding the criticisms, it proved to be a sane and wholesome method of dealing with the delinquent women of the city.
The legislature of 1911 enacted a law, providing for the appointment of a court matron in cities of the first and second class, and this act prescribed her duties as follows: “She shall, under the direction of the judge of the city court, investigate and report to such judge upon the past histories, conditions of living, character, morals and habits of all women and girls awaiting trial in such city court and shall have supervision of such women and girls while not in actual custody until final disposition of the charges against them.” As a result of this legislation a definite work is now being done throughout the State in aiding and assisting a class of women, heretofore most shamefully neglected.
The following report by Mrs. E. P. Hopkins, court matron, who has charge of the investigation and supervision of women during my term, tells its own story:
Of this number, 69 were placed on probation under the supervision of volunteer probation officers, and 72 were returned to their homes; 61 girls sent to the Faith Home were detained there until employment was secured for them. The most important work, however, of this department was the aid given to girls living in houses of prostitution. Through the special work in this connection, 23 girls gave up their lives of shame, and the reports show that they were all working and leading better lives.
No more important problem was presented to the court than those cases involving domestic relations. The need for a change in the method of dealing stood, when one realizes the many things involved in the imprisonment of the head of the family, especially when there are many mouths to feed. In order to deal intelligently with these people and to arrive at a just conclusion, Thursday afternoon was set apart for their consideration. A thorough investigation was made by the court matron of the conditions surrounding the man, his home, his employment and his associates, and was presented to the court at this special session, to the end that in the final disposition of the case the same might be disposed of to the best interests of the family as well as the individual. Since the establishment of this session and up to the close of my term 440 cases were investigated, and were disposed of as follows:
Through the probation department, the court attempted to meet every angle of the social problem as represented by the delinquents brought before the court. To the need of employment could be traced many cases of delinquency. To meet this condition, special efforts were made to obtain employment for men. From a crude beginning, it developed into a permanent plan, resulting in all of the larger employers of labor looking to the probation department for their help. More than 600 persons secured employment in this way.
In the presentation of a subject like this one realizes that the material side must always be at the forefront, but to one whose daily life was spent in the very midst of these problems, and who viewed them from every angle, there are many arguments that cannot be expressed in facts and figures. The problems presented by 49,916 persons brought into the court during my term were large and varied. To meet them was a gigantic task, but the results have more than justified the effort.
Any innovation in the administration of justice is the subject for more or less criticism, just and unjust. Did this work place additional burden on the taxpayer? Emphatically, No! It reduced the number of commitments to the jail and workhouse by more than 50 per cent. During the first year of its operation there was a saving in the cost of feeding prisoners in the county jail of $1,293 and in the maintenance of the workhouse of $4,631. However, the results of a system of justice are not to be measured by dollars and cents. Such a work aims at the physical, mental and moral uplift of the individual rather than at the cold satisfaction of the law. It aspires to restore the erring to society as useful citizens and transforms our penal system into a mighty influence for the uplifting of society.
The reports to the court showed that home conditions had improved; that men had abstained from the use of intoxicating liquors; that employers had been enlisted in taking a more friendly interest in employees; that men had joined churches and in other ways added to a higher standard of living.
This touch of humanity in the administration of justice in a criminal court was not only a profitable investment so far as the public was concerned, but better than all, it made possible the social regeneration of thousands of men and women.