Ineffectiveness of the 19th Century Jury System

A common saying today is “Guns don 't kill people. People kill people”. That is why guns aren 't put on trial, but people are. The outcome of the trial depends on twelve jurors chosen at random. They can be anyone as shown in the documents “Roughing It” by Mark Twain and the document, “Sex and the All-American Boy” by Dorothy Kilgallen. While authors such as Harris and Robinson agree and disagree that a trial by jury can be beneficial. A question kept emerging while analyzing the documents. Does the jury system provide true justice? Trial by jury in the nineteenth century was ineffective, emotions led to judgements, and it just patched the problems.

Jurors have to be chosen in an acceptable manner. It can not consist of just anyone. According

The murder of Freda was an emotional case in which her soon to be husband murders his pregnant fiance. According to the document, “Sex and the All-American Boy”, Dorothy Kilgallen says “They shuffled into the jury box and remained on their feet. They shifted their bodies nervously, ducked their hands into their pockets, or kept them behind their backs”(368). The trial featured many emotional moments including the father of the deceased child to leave the room in frustration after letters written by Robert to his daughter were read out loud. The love Robert proclaimed in the letters were false. The emotions were unbearable. The twelve jurors had to live with the fact that they sentenced a twenty two year old man who could have had a future to his death. Even the detective we burst into tears because he knew Robert his whole life and couldn 't understand why he did what he did. According to “Trial By Jury Or By Magistrates” by B. T. Harris, he proclaims, “MORE than any other forensic matter, perhaps, the right to jury trial is capable of arousing deep emotions”(184). Other authors such as Harris also agree that some trials should not be taken to juries because they are too emotional. It is hard to keep emotions inside when dealing with an emotional case such as the murder of Freda and her unborn