WAIVER OF JURY IN FELONY TRIALS

The mores of a people, as reflected by their institutions, become fixtures of great stability. They are conceived of as infallible because of their venerable age and are generally regarded as traditions. The inflexibility of these institutions gives rise to dissatisfaction as time goes on and the observer can not fail to note protests which, if echoed with sufficient volume and frequency, lead to changes and better adaptation to the difference in times. In the sphere of legal procedure, the jury has become just such a fixed element.

However, forward looking members of the Bar and of the laity have been discontented with the low efficiency and snail's pace of the "jury of peers." With this in mind, suggestions have been offered from the one extreme of modification of the existing jury system to that of complete abolition of the jury.