| This study is an examination of the socio-legal dynamics surrounding the charge and prosecution of rape and other sex crimes in nineteenth-century Ohio's legal fraternity. The goal is to document the impact of gender and race assumptions upon the women who brought forth charges, the structure and power of the male dominated legal system, changing definitions of the crime, rules of evidence, the experiences of women in court, state supreme court decisions on sexually related crimes, the prosecution, sentencing, and release rate of offenders, and the impact of the efforts of moral reformers and individual women who desired to create more protective legislation. The numerous legal documents cases, and statutes examined are contextualized within broader social, political, and economic forces at work throughout the century that influenced the developing legal system in the emerging state of Ohio in ways that affected the experiences of both men and women in court. As the nation entered the "market revolution" the basic function of law transformed. In colonial America the primary emphasis of law was the protection of morality, by the early nineteenth century, however, the primary emphasis of law became the protection of property, goods, and capital gain. The prosecution of rape, once considered a moral crime deserving severe punishment now lost prosecutorial precedence to economically based crimes like theft, burglary and forgery. In the newly admitted state of Ohio (1803) this shift in the function of law began early in the state's history and continued until well into the 1800s. What complicated matters were the severely overcrowded state penitentiary and saturated court system. The result was the early release of convicted offenders, and a legal system that was forced to decide what crimes were the most important to prosecute, and ensure proper punishment. Rape, a crime suffered primarily by women but defined, judged and sentenced by male legal authority lost importance throughout the course of this dynamic century. Punishments for rape were reduced, convicted sex offenders were pardoned at a higher rate than other offenders, and state Supreme Court Justices overturned convictions made in the lower courts. By the end of the century, however, issues of morality and the legal protection of women reemerged by the efforts of moral reformers and new legislation was written. Within this context, what at first appears to be a very intimate crime between two (or more) individuals results in a very complex interaction involving litigants, juries, witnesses, courtroom officials, high-level state officials, and the local community who anxiously came to view the drama at hand. |
