Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 May 1879 — INTERESTING LEGAL NOTES. [ARTICLE]

INTERESTING LEGAL NOTES.

By the laws of Kansas women have the same property rights as men. A law has been passed by the State Legislature of Ohio that if an insurance agent shall over-insure a piece of property he shall forfeit his license. The Treasurer of an lowa county lost $7,000 of the public funds by the failure of a bank, recently. He was sued for the money, and, oh appeal, it has been decided by the Supreme Court of the State that he must pay it; that custodians of public moneys who place them in banks must make good all losses. In the case of a man named Holmes, who was called as a juror in a land suit in a Florida court, the Supreme Court of the United States has given an important opinion. Holmes was challenged on the ground that he was disqualified under section 820 of the Revised Statutes, which 'does not admit ex-Confederates to places on juries. The court below ruled that Holmes need not answer any questions touching his qualifications under this section, and overruled the challenge. The Supreme Court holds that a juror is no more obliged than a witness to disclose on oath that he is guilty of any crime or of any act which would render him infamous in order to test his qualifications as a juror. The questions asked him, if answered in the affirmative, would have convicted him of the crime of treason, whether pardoned by a general amnesty or not. The crime was one which, in the opinion of this court, he could not be required to disclose in this manner. If he were guilty, the challenger had the right to prove it by other competent testimony. As he did not offer to do this, and .as the juror’s incompetency was not proven, the court was not bound to exclude him. Justice Miller delivered the opinion, Justice Field presented a separate but concurrent opinion, and Justice Strong dissented from the decision of the court.