itled, but voted in good faith in the
belief that it was her right, she was guilty of no crime.
III. That she did vote in such good faith, and with such belief.
The court held that the defendant had no right to vote--that good faith
constituted no defence--that there was nothing in the case for the jury
to decide, and directed them to find a verdict of guilty; refusing to
submit, at the request of the defendant's counsel, any question to the
jury, or to allow the clerk to ask the jurors, severally, whether they
assented to the verdict which the court had directed to be entered. The
verdict of guilty was entered by the clerk, as directed by the court,
without any express assent or dissent on the part of the jury. A fine of
$100, and costs, was imposed upon the defendant.
Miss ANTHONY insists that in these proceedings, the fundamental
principle of criminal law, that no person can be a criminal unless the
mind be so--that an honest mistake is not a crime, has been disregarded;
that she has been denied her constitutional right of trial by jury, the
jury having had no voice in her conviction; that she has been denied her
right to have the response of every juror to the question, whether he
did or did not assent to the verdict which the court directed the clerk
to enter.
The trial of the three inspectors followed that of Miss ANTHONY, and all
were convicted, the court holding, as in the case of Miss ANTHONY, that
good faith on their part in receiving the votes was not a protection;
which they think a somewhat severe rule of law, inasmuch as the statute
provides the same penalty, and in the same sentence, "for knowingly and
wilfully receiving the vote of any person not entitled to vote, or
refusing to receive the vote of any person entitled to vote." The
inspectors claim, that according to this exposition of the law, they
were placed in a position which required them, without any opportunity
to investigate or take advice in regard to the right of any voter whose
right was questioned, to decide the question correctly, at the peril of
a term in the state's prison if they made a mistake; and, though this
may be a correct exposition of the law in their case, they would be
sorry to see it applied to the decisions of any court, not excepting the
tribunal by which they were convicted.
The defendant, HALL, is at a loss to know how he could have avoided the
penalty, inasmuch as he did all that he could in the way of rejecting
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