Monday, 18th August 1913: Full Stone Mountain Judge Will Still Preside, The Atlanta Constitution
The Atlanta Constitution,
Monday, 18th August 1913,
PAGE 7, COLUMN 1.
Status of That Circuit Is Unchanged by Addition Made to Atlanta Superior Court.
There seems to be a rather general impression that the creating of the Fourth division of the superior court of Fulton county terminates the right of the judge of the Stone Mountain circuit to preside in the superior court of the Atlanta circuit, but this is not true.
When the Stone Mountain circuit was created by the general assembly of 1885 it was provided in that act that the judge of that circuit, when its business does not require his attention, may aid in the disposition of the business of the Atlanta circuit. This act, as originally passed by the general assembly, provided that the Stone Mountain circuit would terminate on the first f January, 1888, but by an act adopted in 1887 that provision of the act was repealed and the circuit was made perpetual, without in any manner changing the provision that the judge of that circuit may aid in the disposition of the business of the Atlanta circuit.
Effect of Act of 1885.
Immediately after the approval of the act of 1885 the judge of the Stone Mountain circuit commenced to aid in the disposition of the business of the Atlanta circuit, and by direction of the presiding judge of the Atlanta circuit was assigned to the criminal division of the superior court of Fulton county (the Atlanta circuit being composed only of the county of Fulton) and has continued to do so up to the present time.
In 1906 the general assembly recognized this status by providing that an additional salary might be paid from the county funds to the judge of the Stone Mountain circuit, not exceeding two thousand dollars per annum, while presiding in this circuit (the provisions of which act were subsequently re-enacted after the constitution was amended so as to make certain the right of counties to pay such additional salaries), and in pursuance of this act the board of county commissioners shortly afterward passed a resolution providing for the payment of this additional salary and has continued to pay it up to this time.
Status Not Changed.
The act passed by the general assembly at this session is almost identical in its verbiage with the previous act providing for the third judge of the superior court of the Atlanta circuit, and neither in terms nor by implication does it repeal the act of 1885, as amended by the act of 1887, creating the Stone Mountain circuit and providing that the judge of that circuit might aid in the disposition of the business of the Atlanta circuit, so that that law is still of force and the enactment of the bill providing for a fourth judge of the Atlanta circuit in no wise affects it.
The judge of the Stone Mountain circuit will continue to preside in the criminal division of the superior court of Fulton county, or such other division as he may be assigned to.
Men on Frank Jury Must Be Some Mighty Good Husbands Asserts the Deputy in Charge
"In my five years of experience as deputy sheriff in the criminal division of Fulton superior court," said Plennie Miner, who needs an introduction to no one, "I have had to handle many, many juries in many famous murder cases, but I have never had less trouble and more ease in providing for twelve men than in the Leo Frank trial."
"In the average jury, there are men from every walk of life, farmers, engineers, baggagemen, clerks, merchants and professionals of all character. Some retire early at night, some sit awake until past midnight. Some arise early and some kick on getting up even as early as 9 and 10 o'clock. A jury of this type is more or less troublesome, as would be expected, and they generally are a bad class to attend to."
"But not so with the men in the Frank trial. They are a family almost to themselves, and have become as attached to each other as closely as brothers. They retire at the same hour, get up simultaneously, and never complain on food, service or the censorship of their mail and literature."
"The Frank jury, in my mind, is the ideal jury. I have had an experience as wide as the next man, if not wider, and I'm in a position to know. They take whatever comes, and never grumble. There hasn't been a complaint since the trial, and there never will be. If they are equally as agreeable and logical at home by their wives, I don't think I'll hear a whisper of contradiction in saying that there isn't an unhappy family in the whole twelve."