Whatever has been the manner of his arrest he is in most instances taken at once before the nearest magistrate6 in order that the latter may inquire into the charge against him and determine whether upon the evidence there is reasonable cause to believe him guilty.[15] If the arrest takes place after four o'clock in the afternoon, or no magistrate happens to be holding court, the prisoner is locked up until the following morning.[16] If he be charged with a felony he must remain in confinement7 until the magistrate admits him to bail8, for no police official can fix or receive bail in such cases: if, however, he has been arrested for the commission of a misdemeanor only, the sergeant9 on duty at "the desk" must fix the bail and give him a reasonable opportunity to procure10 it.
[Pg 43]
If arrested while a police court is in session he is entitled to an immediate11 hearing, and to the services of counsel, for whom the magistrate must send, free of charge, through an officer. After the arrival of counsel or after waiting a reasonable time for his appearance, the magistrate may then proceed to examine into the case, and can only adjourn12 the hearing for forty-eight hours at a time for "good cause," unless at the request of the defendant13 himself.
The subjects of the rights of apprehended14 persons is too extensive to be adequately treated in a few pages. The power which the magistrate may arbitrarily exercise of holding persons merely "suspected" of crime for further examination is very great. Where a prisoner is brought in under arrest as a fugitive15 from another State he is frequently "held" (without any formal charge being made against him) for several days at the mere2 telegraphic request of some police official in a distant city. The writ16 of habeas corpus may secure his release, but persons unjustly arrested on "suspicion" have little redress17 in ordinary cases, whether they are discharged immediately or held for long periods. While no technical authority exists for such detentions18 (the right of arrest being strictly limited as set forth19 in the last chapter) they are practically necessary to prevent the escape of dangerous criminals. "Arrest on suspicion" is a euphemistic description of a technically20 illegal proceeding4, which is universally recognized as necessary for the protection of society.[Pg 44][17]
The police court is the great clearing house of crime. Inasmuch as all persons arrested, whether innocent or guilty, are brought there together, they should naturally, so far as possible, be accorded the benefit of the doubt as to their guilt1 in the treatment which they receive. They are presumed to be innocent, and indeed many of them are, until a jury has declared to the contrary. However, the attitude generally taken towards a prisoner in a police court is that he is guilty and that it is useless for him to deny it, and he feels the discomfort22 and ignominy of his position far more at this state of the proceedings than he does later, when he is accorded more individual importance. As a rule he is brought into a crowded, stuffy23 court where a vociferous24 pair of shyster lawyers are shouting at each other's witnesses and the magistrate is with difficulty trying to preserve order. A great throng25 of complainants, defendants26, witnesses, policemen, lawyers and idlers fill the room, and the prisoner instantly becomes the centre of vision for all eyes as the officer leads him[Pg 45] up to the clerk's desk and makes his formal accusation27. The altercation28 in front of the magistrate is suspended long enough for the latter to "commit" the defendant, who instantly finds himself locked in a narrow cell where he must remain until some friend or relation has had an opportunity to reach a lawyer, secure a bondsman, and compass his release.
What he must naturally feel most is his own insignificance29. He is merely one of a huge multitude of miserable30 people who are all in the same box. The hours until his lawyer arrives are very dark indeed,—particularly as he probably has no idea of what is going to happen to him in the meantime. If he be a poor man accused of drunkenness or disorderly conduct he may be, and frequently is, sent to the island before he has any adequate opportunity to notify his family, who may suffer an agony of anxiety before they discover what has become of him. The punishment of the minor32 offender33 for trifling34 breaches36 of the peace is not only swift, but is characterized by a certainty unknown to that which the law attaches to crimes of a higher order.
The police court has sometimes been termed "The Poor Man's Court of Appeals." So far as this implies that five out of every seven defendants arraigned37 there are summarily disposed of and accept the decision or sentence of the presiding judge as final, and that the same number of aggrieved38 persons who seek justice there do the same, it is a correct description. No court has a more direct influence for good or evil, or for the creation of a respect or a disregard for law. For an overwhelming majority of our citizens, particularly those[Pg 46] of foreign birth or extraction, it is the only court of justice in existence.[18]
There may be higher courts or higher laws but they know them not. To them the magistrate is an autocrat39. They are avenged40 or punished by virtue41 of his will alone, and as he is just or unjust, honest or corrupt42, so do they come to regard American institutions as a whole. The officers of the precinct are his minions43, only a little lower in majesty44, and even more terrible and implacable.
When it is considered that the magistrates45 in the first division of the City of New York (namely, the Boroughs46 of Manhattan and the Bronx) alone disposed of 138,047 cases in the year 1907, and that in 104,622 of these they exercised a summary jurisdiction47 over the liberty of the prisoner, with power in many instances to inflict48 severe punishment, it will be seen that the importance of these courts cannot be easily overrated. Including the defendants arraigned in the "Children's Court" and before certain judges of the Special Sessions sitting as magistrates, there were 149,494 persons arrested during 1907 in New York County alone.
The summary jurisdiction of the police judge embraces all offences classed as "disorderly conduct," violations49 of so-called "corporation ordinances"[Pg 47] (such as peddling51 without a license52, etc.), infractions of the "Sabbath law," the disposition53 of persons alleged54 to be insane, vagrancy55, and the offence (not recognized by any statute56) of being a "suspicious person." Any person whom the magistrate finds guilty of any of these charges (except the last) he may fine or imprison57. It is quite true that the defendant may, if convicted, take an appeal to the Court of General Sessions or test the jurisdiction of the magistrate by a writ of habeas corpus, but the grounds of appeal are few, and the victim rarely is aware or advised of his rights in this respect. Even were he fully58 informed, his purse would not usually permit of further proceedings, unless taken for him from charity by some outside party or organization. The fact that there were, out of this multitude of cases, but one hundred and fifty-nine appeals taken (of which only seventy-seven were successful) speaks for itself.
Besides those charged with the offences over which the magistrate has final jurisdiction, before him come all persons arrested for crimes which are triable in higher courts.[19] These persons he must "hold for trial" (either for the court which tries misdemeanors or for the grand jury) or discharge. Should he have reasonable ground to believe that the accused has committed the crime alleged he is obliged by law to "hold" him, but if the judge sees fit to discharge the prisoner, the aggrieved person has no appeal and his only alternative is to try to persuade the district attorney in spite of the decision of the magistrate to take personal action either by[Pg 48] laying the matter before the grand jury, or in cases of misdemeanors by filing an information in the Court of Special Sessions. He is usually unaware59 of this possibility and at all events it is a difficult proceeding, so that even in the case of crimes in which the magistrate has not a final jurisdiction, his action, so far as setting free the prisoner is concerned, is generally a conclusion of the matter. When a police judge unwarrantably discharges a prisoner accused of a felony the complainant rarely takes any further steps to get justice.
The enormous power wielded60 by what people are accustomed to call "mere police judges" is obvious when we realize that one of them may send a woman to a reformatory for three years, and boys to similar institutions for the same period. Their jurisdiction is, however, strictly confined to certain classes of offences; and if, for example, the crime charged be "larceny61" in any form they are compelled to hold the defendant for the action of a higher court even if he admit his guilt. Thus a vagrant62 who is caught begging can be sent away for six months, but if the same man steal an old rug from a door-step or a gunny-sack from a wagon63 he must willy nilly be sent to the Tombs to await a trial in Special Sessions. Now, in any case where he is going to plead guilty he would probably vastly prefer to have his case disposed of by the magistrate and have done with it.
There would seem to be good reason for believing that coincident with other reforms in the magistrates' courts their original jurisdiction might well be extended to cases of petit larceny where the defendant admits the commission of the offence. A[Pg 49] deal of time, money, and inconvenience to the prisoner might be saved. The present situation results in a tendency on the part of the judge to construe64 as many cases as he can of "petit larceny" into "disorderly conduct." Very often a trivial theft is accompanied by acts which make it perfectly65 proper for the magistrate to overlook the larceny for the disorder31. Certainly it is better for the offender, where possible, to be classed as a "disorderly" rather than as a thief. In the latter case he may, with the stigma66 thus fastened upon him, go forth to a life of crime; in the first he would never be regarded as a criminal. This jurisdiction to punish any act or omission67 tending to create a breach35 of the peace offers a boundless68 opportunity for an arbitrary judge to arrogate69 to himself powers which an ignorant or helpless offender can hardly be expected successfully to defy. If illegally "committed" his only redress is a writ of habeas corpus, which probably is a phrase entirely70 unintelligible71 to him and which will cost more money to procure than he has ever had at any one time in his existence.
The magistrates might also be given jurisdiction to impose punishment in all cases of "simple assault," and in certain cases even of assaults with weapons. There is no particular reason why, if the magistrate can send an old woman away for begging, or for being drunk of a Saturday night, he cannot be trusted to punish her properly for hitting her husband over the head with a hot-water kettle. Moreover, the magistrate before whom the damaged party hales the offender is able to see with his own eyes the actual extent of the injuries which have been inflicted72, whereas, by the time the case[Pg 50] is tried before the judge of the Sessions, Dame73 Nature has usually restored the victim's battered74 physiognomy to its pristine75 condition of refined elegance76.
No one could fail to profit by a day spent upon the police-court bench watching the judge exercise his many diverse yet not inconsistent duties, which variously include those of magistrate, lawyer, clergyman, almoner, arbitrator of domestic difficulties, and general adviser77. He will begin his day's work, which, before it be concluded, will have required him to pass upon anywhere from fifty to eighty cases, by disposing of a long line of drunks and disorderlies of both sexes. Justice is plentifully78 tempered with mercy, however, and the unpleasant business is soon over. Next comes the disposition of unfinished business, which includes the continuance of trials not concluded on the preceding court day. These, of course, embrace every possible offence known to the law. The extraordinary number of petty burglaries is sure to attract the attention of the spectator.[20] Boy after boy is brought to the bar charged with breaking into a tobacco shop, or a small grocery, or a room used for the storage of merchandise, push-carts or fruit. At the very outside the value of the plunder79 cannot exceed a few dollars.
One defendant, his head heavily bandaged, is half carried to the bar by a husky officer and charged with attempting to burglarize the shed adjoining Isadore Aselovitch's junk store. He is clearly much the worse for a severe clubbing. "Izzy," the com[Pg 51]plainant, exhibiting an iron bar several feet in length and weighing upwards81 of twenty pounds, proudly claims to have effected the arrest of the defendant by merely giving him "a little poke82 mit it." In response to the interrogatories of the magistrate, Izzy explains that he and another kept their junk in a certain rear room and from time to time noticed that various odd pieces of iron seemed to be missing. They thereupon concealed83 themselves behind a pile of old push-cart wheels and waited for the thief. After several hours of inactivity they finally heard a rattling84 among the iron and discovered the defendant apparently85 in the very act of stealing a crowbar. Being upon his hands and knees he was unable to offer any effectual resistance to their combined onslaught and barely succeeded in escaping with his life. His cries had brought an officer who had arrested him, upon Izzy's complaint, for attempted burglary. The defendant in turn had charged the two with felonious assault, alleging86 that he had a right to be in the store-room, inasmuch as he was accustomed to leave junk there himself. He further tearfully asserts that he is a rival of Izzy's in the push-cart business, which accounts for the extreme animosity of the latter.
"It vas a lie, your honor, chuge," urges Izzy. "Dot man vas a purglar. He ain't got no push-cart. Gif him ten years, chuge!"
The judge, who is wise in his generation, fines "the burglar" three dollars for disorderly conduct, to the intense disgust of Izzy.
"Tree dollars!" he cries with fine scorn. "Tree dollars for a purglar! I vould be a purglar myself for tree dollars!"
[Pg 52]
Very likely the next case will be that of a small merchant charged with obstructing87 the sidewalk with his boxes. He is let off with a warning or, if it be a second offence, with a small fine. Then a couple of boys will be brought in charged with "shooting craps," and on their heels a half-drunken driver who is accused by a little girl (having on an S.P.C.A. badge) of driving an overloaded88 horse. The crap boys are let go, but as the "cop" agrees with the little girl that the driver was abusing his horse the latter is "held" for Special Sessions.
While these matters are being attended to a great uproar89 is heard and a large crowd forces its way into the court-room. Above the clamor the wails90 of a young Jewess make themselves distinctly audible. The judge has just ordered the drunken driver locked up and is all ready to take up the new case. The defendant, a slick, pale-faced young Hebrew, loudly proclaims his innocence91 and demands an immediate hearing. No time is lost, for the parents of the girl have procured92 a lawyer who at once causes a charge of robbery to be entered. The girl, hysterically93 weeping, tells her story. Up to a certain point it is lucid94 enough. She had been walking along the street when a nice-looking young "feller" had accosted95 her and inquired the way to the nearest pawnbroker's. While they were conversing96 pleasantly upon this subject a second young gentleman had joined them and asked the first to purchase a pair of beautiful diamond earrings97 which he exhibited. This the other regretfully had explained he could not do, since he had no money (being even then on the way to the pawnbroker's). The diamonds had glistened98 and sparkled in the sunlight. The girl had[Pg 53] asked to look at them and while she was doing so the owner had suggested that perhaps she might like to purchase them herself, giving as part of the consideration her own modest little baubles99. This tempting80 offer she says she refused, on the ground that she did not know the young gentleman. She then rapidly states that the two set upon her, struck her, and that she "knew no more," until on recovering her senses she found that her own earrings had disappeared and that those of the stranger were in her ears.
"Hm!" says the magistrate; "and do you say that the defendant struck you?"
"Shure, your honor," replies the young lady.
"And that you fainted?"
"Shure, your honor."
"Did you fall?" inquires the judge sharply.
"N—n—no," admits the complainant.
"Defendant discharged," announces the magistrate.
"Get out of here, all of you," orders the officer at the bridge. "Get along, now!"
The explanation, as the reader already guesses, is simply that by a time-honored trick the girl has been persuaded by an oily-tongued trickster to exchange her own earrings for his worthless ones. This she has done quite voluntarily. She has then hurried home only to find that her newly acquired gems100 are paste. The family goes into a paroxysm of anger and lamentation101. The nearest lawyer is consulted, who, of course, agrees to secure the return of the earrings. They pay him a five-dollar fee, the defendant is sought for and arrested, and in her eagerness to see him punished and to obtain her property[Pg 54] the victim swears away her own case. Probably had she told the truth the defendant could have been "held" for grand larceny by false pretences102.
These proceedings may no sooner be concluded than perchance a giant negro is brought in charged with assault. A dozen officers bring him manacled to the bar, while a crowd of reporters follow and gather on each side, notebook in hand. It appears that the prisoner suddenly ran out of a saloon, drew a revolver and began an indiscriminate shooting. The "reserves" were called out and three policemen now lie dangerously wounded in the hospital. He is held for examination, pending103 a possible inquest by the coroner.
Meantime a lank104 youth from New Jersey105 listens vacantly while an officer accuses him of abandoning a horse which has suddenly expired while harnessed to the defendant's truck wagon. He pays a fine and vanishes. Two young Irish-Americans, mutually damaged, are arraigned for "disorderly conduct." They, too, are fined, being already substantially punished—by each other. A man accused of "Sunday selling" follows a woman who tells a pitiful tale of how her husband has abandoned her and her five little ones. Later in the day the husband is found and ordered to pay her ten dollars per week. Two retail107 milk dealers108 charged with adulteration or "keeping a cow in an unhealthy place," a band of pickpockets109 who have been caught "working" a horse-car, a woman accused of "soliciting," and a bartender who has allowed a "slot machine" to be left upon the premises110, give place to a vociferous store-keeper who has caused the arrest of a very stout111 man for the lar[Pg 55]ceny of four pairs of trousers. He explains loudly that the defendant (who weighs at least 325 pounds) came into the store, asked to see some "pants," and while the clerk was not looking stuffed four pairs of these articles inside his waistband and made his escape. The complainant not only identifies the defendant with absolute certainty but goes so far as to state with equal positiveness that the accused now has on the very trousers into which he stuffed the stolen property. Four pairs identical in size and material with those alleged to have been purloined112 are produced and marked in evidence. The fat man indignantly denies having been in the store at all. The reporters are interested.
"Gentlemen," says the judge, "I appoint you a committee to conduct the defendant to my private room for the purpose of determining whether or not you can stuff these articles of apparel inside his waistband."
The reporters, followed more slowly by the perspiring113 defendant, make their way to a back room, from which they presently emerge to announce through their spokesman that it would be impossible to thrust any object, much less four pairs of trousers, inside the band of the defendant's trousers.
In the interim114 the judge has been settling matrimonial difficulties, giving all sorts of gratuitous115 legal advice, acting116 as arbitrator over the question of the mutual106 use of the "landings" on the stairs in tenement117 houses, issuing warrants, and endeavoring to find an opportunity to continue the hearing in a complicated "false label" case. In this last several rather well-known attorneys are retained, who stand[Pg 56] about disgustedly while the more immediate business of the court is being attended to. In most cases, however, the lawyers are hardly likely to add to the general reputation of the profession for ability.
The inordinate118 number of cases which the magistrates have to dispose of results oftentimes in an inconclusive method of hearing charges of misdemeanors or of felonies, which, if the defendant be held at all, must of necessity be tried in a higher court or, as the magistrates say, "go downtown." If the defendant be a man of some influence, with enough money to retain a boisterous119 and bully-ragging lawyer, the line of least resistance may lead the judge almost unconsciously to regard the case as having "nothing in it." If, on the other hand, the complainant be a man of independence and insistence120, with perhaps a bit of a pull, it is much easier to "hold" a defendant than to assume the responsibility of "turning him out." In point of fact some magistrates are prone121 to shift the responsibility off their own shoulders and to "hold" anyway. Thus there can be "no kick coming" so far as they are concerned. There are also cases where, rather than take the time for a careful examination of the case, the magistrate will "hold," when, if he had really examined into it with the necessary care, he would find that there was no reasonable ground for his action. Now the grand jury is apt to find an indictment122 almost as a matter of course, and the defendant must then be placed on trial before a petit jury. In large measure this is the reason why the calendars of the criminal courts are crowded with cases which should never have gone beyond the police court, and why prisoners charged with homicide often lie for months in the Tombs before the petty business of[Pg 57] the General Sessions can be cleaned up sufficiently124 to allow time for their trial. In this way much of the work which should be done by the police judge is cast upon the already over-burdened petit jury. The evil, however, does not stop there. When a petit jury finds that a majority of the cases brought before it have little or no merit it frequently gets the idea that all criminal business is of the same character and that it is empanelled for the purpose of a general jail delivery. After a jury has "turned out" twenty men in succession it can hardly be blamed for thinking that the twenty-first, who may be a real sinner, ought likewise to be sent home with the others to join his family. Respect for law cannot be maintained unless each part of the machine of justice does its full duty and assumes its own burdens and responsibilities.
It goes without saying that no official comes into closer contact with the police than the magistrate. He gets to know them collectively and individually as no other person can. In determining what should be done in any given case he takes largely into consideration the personal equation of the officer making the arrest. He is able to detect exaggerated or manufactured evidence, which might easily pass as truth and perhaps convince a jury in a higher court. Hence one of the arguments for giving him a wider original jurisdiction. Petit juries are ordinarily disinclined to convict and send a man to State's prison in what seems to them trivial cases. If the magistrate had a wider scope in the disposal of such cases one of the principal reasons for our lack of respect for law (the sentimental125 and arbitrary action of juries) would be largely done away with.
The magistrate, if he be the right kind of a man,[Pg 58] can do more real good, right more real wrongs, and exert a more wholesome126 and salutary influence upon the working people of large cities than any benevolent127 or charitable association. He can do much to break up the alliance of the police with crime and to prevent arbitrary acts of violence and lawlessness upon their part committed either to compel the payment of blackmail128 or cover derelictions of duty.
The police judge also soon learns the character of the practitioners130 who appear so constantly before him. Many a case which on its face seems founded on justice may be shown by a little questioning on the part of the magistrate to be nothing but an attempt to "hold up" or injure the defendant. The quasi-criminal classes know well the power of the criminal law and frequently invite it to secure private vengeance131. When two rogues132 fall out there is often a race to see who can get to the police court first. In other cases the dense133 ignorance of complainant or defendant renders justice almost impossible. The shyster plays upon this to his profit. There is a story told of a practitioner129 with a large Italian following who was accustomed to display prominently upon a table in his office a small Testament134 and a huge Webster's Dictionary. After his clients had stated their case he would turn to them and ask:
"Do you wish the law from the big book or the little book?"
The clients would inquire the relative cost.
"The law from the little book is ten dollars—the law from the big book is twenty-five dollars."
The clients would consult together and on the assumption that the bigger the book the better the[Pg 59] law, would almost invariably pay their twenty-five dollars and procure the best advice which Noah Webster could give.
The fact that most police magistrates are appointed for purely135 political reasons is much to be deprecated. The days of bribery136 are over, but occasionally the public has some excuse for believing that the desire to do "a favor" for a political friend may have influenced the action of one of them. This would have less color were they usually appointed for some other and better reason than mere party fealty137. Ordinarily the appointment goes to some faithful worker, who has won distinction in ward21 politics. Like enough he may make an excellent judge. At any rate he has a direct personal knowledge of the people with whom he is called to deal. He has equally first-hand information of local conditions and the personnel of the police attached to the neighboring precincts. His judgment138 is apt to have a practical wisdom that a mere student of law could never achieve. He knows a crooked139 officer, a crooked lawyer, and a crooked complainant when he sees one. Whatever the verbal testimony140 happens to be he may very well "know different." He is, as the slang phrase accurately141 puts it, "wise to his job." And when all is said and done the "influence" exerted upon him will probably be only a request to "Do the best you can for So and So,—he's a friend of mine," which will not affect his action in the least. A college-bred lawyer with no actual knowledge of existing conditions might have the wool pulled over his eyes at every turn, and, while theoretically enforcing the law as it is printed on the statute books, fail utterly142 to achieve the rough-and-ready justice[Pg 60] which the situation demands and which his less educated brethren can dispense143 by virtue of instinct acquired from long experience. It must be admitted, however, that the system of political appointments is just as bad, if not worse, when applied144 to police magistracies as when exercised in higher places. The appointees may or may not turn out successfully, and in New York we have had some extraordinary surprises in both directions.
Did space permit a judicious145 selection of the historic rulings of traditional magistrates would make entertaining reading. One of the most famous was that of a certain learned member of this bench who is said to have discharged a defendant accused of killing146 a robin147 in Central Park in the following words:
"You are charged with breaking a park ordinance50 forbidding the public to kill the robins148. Of course you ought not to kill the robins for they are harmless birds, but I have looked this thing up a little, and I find that from time immemorial it has been held that there can be no right of property in wild beasts. Now, a robin is clearly ferr? natur?—of a wild nature—and so the city has no property in it. The ordinance is therefore unconstitutional, and I am constrained149 to discharge you. You may go."
Nowhere than on the magistrate's bench is better illustrated150 the proverb that a little learning is a dangerous thing, but only a little learning, even such as classifies an innocent park robin as a wild beast, is preferable to an openly expressed intention of enforcing only those laws which appeal to the judge's individual sense of propriety151. The writer recalls endeavoring some six years ago to induce[Pg 61] a certain magistrate to hold a defendant for the grand jury for a certain statutory offence. The learned magistrate positively152 refused to do so on the ground that there was "no sense in the law."
"But it is the law!" returned the writer.
"Well, I don't care if it is," replied the judge tartly153. "I didn't make it. It's no law of mine, and I don't propose to follow it. Go and get the grand jury to indict123 if you can, but I won't hold this man for doing what I might want to do myself some day."[21]
Taken as a body our magistrates, with a few obvious exceptions, are men of wide experience and practical common sense, who handle the enormous stream of business which comes before them with efficiency and dispatch. A forbidding exterior154 and, occasionally, a diction which might startle a Friday evening prayer meeting may co-exist with a fair mind, a kind heart, and an honest determination to see that justice is done. While the rights of the defendant are fully protected it is probable that actual justice is more nearly accomplished155 in these than in higher courts, where "reasonable doubt," the presumption156 of innocence, and kindred privileges, as interpreted by a sympathetic jury, intervene between the rights of the community and those of the prisoner at the bar.
FOOTNOTES:
[15] Of course if he has been indicted157 by the grand jury in the first instance, he is arrested on a "bench warrant" issued by a judge of the General Sessions and placed in confinement without any preliminary examination.
[16] This condition has been much improved in New York City by the institution of the "Night" Court in which one magistrate is always on duty. All minor offenders158 are at once arraigned before him, no matter what the hour, and thus may be disposed of without undue159 confinement.
[17] "Many persons are arrested under suspicious circumstances, such as well-known criminals mysteriously loitering about the streets at night, or frequenting crowded places, or persons having property in their possession for which they can give no good account, nor of themselves. Frequently such an arrest is the first step in the detection of some crime in which (after investigation), if the proper complainant is found, a formal complaint is taken, and the prisoner is held for trial. In many instances such an arrest prevents the commission of crime."
Comparison with Previous Years.
Number Arraigned and Discharged.
Year. Males. Females. Total.
1896 2335 120 2455
1897 1756 129 1885
1898 1628 154 1782
1899 2033 301 2334
1900 2023 293 2316
1901 2066 197 2263
1902 2337 200 2537
1903 2634 115 2749
1904 3734 224 3958
1905 3551 231 3782
1906 5483 180 5663
1907 2656 118 2774
[18] The nativity of the persons held for trial in 1907 or summarily tried and convicted in magistrates' courts was:
United States 30,261
Ireland 8,061
Germany 4,219
England 1,044
Scotland 473
France 869
Italy 8,243
Russia 9,254
Greece 3,039
Other countries 5,790
———
Total 71,253
[19] In 1905 the number of persons so held in New York County by the magistrates of the first division, was 36,340.
[20] During 1907 there were arrested 1,669 persons on charges of burglary, of whom 1,055 were held for trial.
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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proceeding
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proceedings
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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confinement
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bail
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sergeant
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procure
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immediate
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adjourn
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defendant
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apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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16
writ
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| n.命令状，书面命令 | |
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17
redress
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| n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除 | |
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18
detentions
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| 拘留( detention的名词复数 )； 扣押； 监禁； 放学后留校 | |
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19
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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20
technically
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| adv.专门地，技术上地 | |
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21
ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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22
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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23
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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24
vociferous
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| adj.喧哗的，大叫大嚷的 | |
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25
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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26
defendants
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| 被告( defendant的名词复数 ) | |
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27
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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28
altercation
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| n.争吵，争论 | |
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29
insignificance
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| n.不重要；无价值；无意义 | |
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30
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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31
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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32
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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33
offender
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| n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者 | |
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34
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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35
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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36
breaches
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| 破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背 | |
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37
arraigned
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| v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；传讯；指责 | |
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38
aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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39
autocrat
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| n.独裁者；专横的人 | |
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40
avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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41
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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42
corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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43
minions
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| n.奴颜婢膝的仆从( minion的名词复数 )；走狗；宠儿；受人崇拜者 | |
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44
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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45
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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46
boroughs
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| （尤指大伦敦的）行政区( borough的名词复数 )； 议会中有代表的市镇 | |
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47
jurisdiction
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| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
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48
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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49
violations
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| 违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸 | |
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50
ordinance
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| n.法令；条令；条例 | |
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51
peddling
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| 忙于琐事的，无关紧要的 | |
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52
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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53
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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54
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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55
vagrancy
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| （说话的，思想的）游移不定； 漂泊； 流浪； 离题 | |
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56
statute
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| n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例 | |
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57
imprison
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| vt.监禁，关押，限制，束缚 | |
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58
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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59
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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60
wielded
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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61
larceny
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| n.盗窃（罪） | |
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62
vagrant
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| n.流浪者，游民；adj.流浪的，漂泊不定的 | |
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63
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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64
construe
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| v.翻译，解释 | |
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65
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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66
stigma
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| n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头 | |
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67
omission
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| n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长 | |
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68
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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69
arrogate
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| v.冒称具有...权利，霸占 | |
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70
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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71
unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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72
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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74
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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75
pristine
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| adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的 | |
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76
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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77
adviser
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| n.劝告者，顾问 | |
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78
plentifully
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| adv. 许多地，丰饶地 | |
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79
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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80
tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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81
upwards
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|
| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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82
poke
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|
| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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83
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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84
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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85
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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86
alleging
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| 断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 ) | |
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87
obstructing
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| 阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止 | |
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88
overloaded
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| a.超载的，超负荷的 | |
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89
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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90
wails
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| 痛哭，哭声( wail的名词复数 ) | |
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91
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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92
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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93
hysterically
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| ad. 歇斯底里地 | |
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94
lucid
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| adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的 | |
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95
accosted
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| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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96
conversing
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|
| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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97
earrings
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| n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子 | |
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98
glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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99
baubles
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| n.小玩意( bauble的名词复数 )；华而不实的小件装饰品；无价值的东西；丑角的手杖 | |
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100
gems
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|
| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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101
lamentation
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| n.悲叹，哀悼 | |
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102
pretences
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| n.假装( pretence的名词复数 )；作假；自命；自称 | |
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103
pending
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| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
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104
lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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105
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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106
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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107
retail
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| v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格 | |
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108
dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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109
pickpockets
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| n.扒手( pickpocket的名词复数 ) | |
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110
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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112
purloined
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| v.偷窃( purloin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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113
perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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114
interim
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| adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间 | |
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115
gratuitous
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| adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的 | |
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116
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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117
tenement
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| n.公寓；房屋 | |
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118
inordinate
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| adj.无节制的；过度的 | |
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119
boisterous
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| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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120
insistence
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| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
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121
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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122
indictment
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| n.起诉；诉状 | |
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123
indict
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| v.起诉，控告，指控 | |
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124
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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125
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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126
wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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127
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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128
blackmail
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| n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓 | |
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129
practitioner
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| n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者 | |
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130
practitioners
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| n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师） | |
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131
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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132
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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133
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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134
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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135
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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136
bribery
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| n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿 | |
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137
fealty
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| n.忠贞，忠节 | |
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138
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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139
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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140
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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141
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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142
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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143
dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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144
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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146
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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147
robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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148
robins
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| n.知更鸟，鸫( robin的名词复数 )；（签名者不分先后，以避免受责的）圆形签名抗议书（或请愿书） | |
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149
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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150
illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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151
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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152
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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153
tartly
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| adv.辛辣地，刻薄地 | |
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154
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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155
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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156
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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157
indicted
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| 控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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158
offenders
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| n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物） | |
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159
undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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160
penal
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| adj.刑罚的；刑法上的 | |
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