These men are inferior to the men called by the sheriff in due course of law from the body of the electors, yet they often decide important cases in court. People sometimes complain of the miscarriage of justice in our courts. In rare instances the complaint may be well founded. It is difficult to obtain a well-qualified jury. Our laws exclude from the jury in any case all persons who, having learned about the case, have formed any opinion in regard to it. A jury is supposed to be absolutely free from prejudice in the case before them. It is the duty of the citizen to serve on jury when summoned.

355. Judgment, Sentence and Execution.-The decision of the court follows the verdict of the jury. In civil cases the decision of the court is called the judgment; in criminal cases it is called the sentence. A judgment or a sentence follows the law. By force of the judgment the party obtaining it seizes and sells by the sheriff the personal property of the adjudged person to the amount of the claim fixed by the judgment. If the personal property is not sufficient to satisfy the debt, the real property of the delinquent is levied on and sold by the sheriff to the amount of the judgment.

If found guilty in a criminal case, the person is sentenced by the court to suffer the penalty of the law. A person sentenced to capital punishment may be respited or pardoned by the governor of the State.* The carrying out of the judgment or the sentence of the court is the execution.

356. The Appeal. If the party who loses the suit thinks there has been an error of any kind in the trial, his attorney applies for a new trial, which, if granted, proceeds before a new jury in the same manner as when first tried. If a new trial is not granted, he may appeal from the decision of the court to the supreme court of the State. The

* See ¶ 195, p. 106.

supreme court either orders a new trial in the lower court or renders a decision in the case. The decision of the supreme court of the State is final, excepting for a certain class of cases designated by the Federal Constitution; which cases may be appealed to the inferior courts of the United States or to the Supreme Court of the United States. Cases tried in the supreme court of the State or of the United States are usually decided by the judges alone, without the intervention of a jury.

357. The Supreme Court of the United States.-— The Constitution provides for one Supreme Court, which meets in the Capitol at Washington, D. C., and consists of a chief-justice and eight associate justices. It holds one session annually, beginning on the first Monday of December. A quorum consists of any five justices of the court, and the decision of a quorum is the decision of the court. It exercises original jurisdiction in all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls and those in which a State is a party. All other cases before it are cases appealed into it from State courts or from inferior courts of the United States. It may modify its own decisions, but its judgment is final.

358. Inferior Courts of the United States.-The Constitution empowers Congress to establish United States courts inferior to the Supreme Court. Under this authority it has established nine circuit courts and fifty-nine district courts, for each of which a resident judge is appointed. Each justice of the Supreme Court is assigned

to a circuit.

* The nine circuits are

1. Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

2. Vermont, Connecticut and New York.

3. New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

4. Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

5. Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.