Court Records Old and New

Norfolk County, MA courthouse dome
This morning I was participating in American government. I was doing jury duty service. This event was much more interesting than that last time where I had to wait to be called sitting on the floor of a grim corridor.  This time around I was in a beautiful court room in a comfortable chair.

The court officer went to a great deal of trouble to explain what was going to happen and why.  We were even treated to a video that explained the purpose, importance and history of jury duty.

I learned that the first African Americans in Massachusetts served as jurors in 1860 (no mention, though, that this right was likely taken away from them some years later). I also learned that women did not become jurors until 1950, thirty years after winning the right to vote.

Most of my time on jury duty was spent waiting and reading. I passed the time reading the recently released Witchcraft Prosecution: Chasing the Devil in Connecticut by Richard G. Tomlinson. This book explains the history of witchcraft in Connecticut from 1642 to the early 1700s.

This books falls right on the heals of my reading The Naked Quaker: True Crimes and Controversies from the Courts of Colonial New England by Diane Rapaport.

I couldn't help but reflect on the importance of court activities and their future role as historical documents.  The court records from the 1600s provide insight into a time period that seems distant and far removed from today. Reading the witch trial records from the 1600s made me realize just how similar we are in regards to aspects of human nature such as greed, jealously, fear, sexuality and power. When you read between the lines of the witch trials you quickly come to understand that they had more to do with these items that they did with witches.

Like a twist in a bad movie, the court officer said she was going to release us mid-morning only to return to and notify us that they were impaneling the entire jury pool. So off we went to the courtroom.

It was very interesting to hear the judge, meet the lawyers and to see the representatives for the plaintiff and the defendant in this civil case.  The judge explained to us what the trial was about and then asked us a number of questions.

I have to admit that I was glad that the jury was filled before they called my name. Though I greatly appreciated the insight into how Americans courtrooms work, especially considering that I was studying 17th century court records simultaneously. I really made me consider how our actions of today would be the historical records of tomorrow.

Being in a courthouse was a really wonderful backdrop for reading early American court records. While the book is interesting enough on its own, it sure made it a lot more fun.

Comments

  1. Wow no women jurors till 1950!
    Washington passed women voting in 1910 and soon after that had women jurors.
    I have been on jury duty 5 times and served on 4 juries. You do get a lot of reading done on the hurry up and wait routine, but the actual jury is a lot better than the waiting to be picked.

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    Replies
    1. Charles,

      That's very interesting to learn about Washington. I was wondering what occurred in the other states. Now I'm wondering how many other states had female jurors before 1950 before Massachusetts. Thanks for chiming in!

      Marian

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  2. I completed my turn at jury duty a few weeks ago. This time I was actually called upon to be a juror in a criminal case. I served as an Alternate Juror. It was very interesting to see the whole process at work. Thankfully the case only lasted a couple of days. It was a pretty straight-forward misdemeaner case.

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  3. I like your observation that you were at the site of historical documents in the making, so to speak. Also, I seriously agree with this conclusion of yours:

    "Reading the witch trial records from the 1600s made me realize just how similar we are in regards to aspects of human nature such as greed, jealously, fear, sexuality and power. When you read between the lines of the witch trials you quickly come to understand that they had more to do with these items that they did with witches."

    Absolutely. Witch trials were just one historical manifestation of how basically fearful human beings are, and what they are capable of doing to one another. You only have to turn on the news of the day to see a steady stream of other manifestations. The shooters of the 14-year-old girl in Pakistan, for example.

    And yet there is also a regular parade of people manifesting the better angels of our nature--as when the British took in that 14 year old girl and are protecting her, so that the Taliban won't get another chance to kill her. This is human nature, too. I've long been fascinated with how the good and evil in human nature can morph into each other. Witch trials, after all, were supposed to be "godly," and the Taliban believe they are doing the will of Allah. Go figure!

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  4. Thanks for the insight. I did a little Google search because I knew Utah was one of the first states give women the right to vote. It was first allowed in 1870, but the federal government passed a law that took it away in 1887 and was reinstated in 1896 when Utah became a state. The first two women were admitted to the bar in 1872. In 1898 women were allowed to do jury duty.

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