S
Sophia
Guest
48
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/m...politan/2814176
Legal strides for women came with time
50 years ago, Houstonian was the first female juror
to lawfully sit on Texas panel
By ROMA KHANNA
Copyright
2004 Houston Chronicle
OVER THE YEARS
Texas was among the last states to continue excluding women
from serving on any kind of jury.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�Å¡¢ 1898: Utah becomes the first state to allow women to
sit on juries.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�Å¡¢ 1920: Women get the right to vote, leading 12 states to allow jury service.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�Å¡¢ 1954: Texas permits women to serve on juries.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�Å¡¢ 1957: The Civil Rights Act qualifies all eligible citizens
for federal jury service, regardless of state law.
But it is not immediately implemented.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�Å¡¢ 1965: Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina entirely exclude women
from sitting on juries. Twenty-one states allow women
to serve just as men, while 18 others allow women on juries
but also permit them to decline service simply because they are women.
Eight states allow women to request exemption because of family responsibilities.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�Å¡¢ 1968: The Federal Jury Selection and Service Act prohibits
excluding jurors on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national
origin
or economic status.
Source: Jo Freeman,
retired lawyer and author of Women: A Feminist Perspective.
When the Texas Supreme Court threw out seven McLennan County
convic
tions in 1921,
including one for murder,
it wasn't because of doubts about the defendants' guilt
or problems with the evidence.
The Waco convictions were overturned
because two women had been among the members
of the indicting grand jury.
Women nationwide had won the right to vote the previous year,
but they stil
l could not serve on juries in Texas.
More than three decades would elapse
before an amendment to the state Constitution
allowed that to happen, clearing the way
for a Houstonian to be the state's first legal woman juror
50 years ago this November.
Miss Louise Summers, as she was known, not only served on the panel
with 11 men, but served as forewoman.
"It was decidedly different having a woman in t
here,"
juror R.M. Templeton told the now-defunct daily Houston Press after the November 1954 trial.
"We couldn't do any cussing."
Texas was
one of a handful of states to maintain
a total exclusion on women's jury service into the mid-1950s,
according to Jo Freeman, a retired lawyer and New York-based
author who has studied the issue.
Texas' decision came years behind a few states that had
allowed women on juries since the 19th century,
and well ahead of others, including Alabama, Mississippi and the federal government.
"I haven't run into states where it took a co
nstitutional amendment
to make it happen. That certainly is rare,"
Freeman said.
"It was usually legislation or, in the last states, a court ruling."
Harris County District Clerk Charles Bacarisse's office began
to study the history of women's jury service in Texas last year
after disc
overing the 50th anniversary was approaching
and that Harris County was the first to impanel a woman.
Surprising reactions
"It is remarkable to think we are coming up on only the 5
0th anniversary,"
Bacarisse said.
"I can't imagine our justice system functioning today
without the participation of everyone, but certainly there was a time
not that long ago when women were not participating."
Bacarisse's office uncovered details of a seldom-told bit of Texas history.
State District Judge Mark Davidson, a history buff,
knew the background on women's jury service,
but was intrigued by male jurors' reactions
to Houston's first female juror.
"The men that were on that jury show
ed attitudes that surprised me
because clearly, they saw a woman being on a jury as a novelty," he said.
"Statements such as,
'My wife doesn't like me being locked up in a jury room with a
woman,'
obviously amused me.
But the files show, once again, that the courts are one of the best
reflections that we have of society."
Summers was chosen just days after a st
atewide referendum confirmed
the right of women to serve on juries.
An accounting clerk at Cameron Ironworks,
she said she lived with her parents and was "over 21."
First participation
Summers and 11 men heard the case of a switchman
who claimed the Texas New Orleans Railroad was responsible
for injuries he suffered when he fell on the job.
She delivered the verdict on Nov. 30, 1954, awarding the switchman $35,675.
"Of course, every fellow stood by his guns," she said of her colleagues
on the jury, according to the Press.
"Everybody knew what was going on and I felt like they adopted me."
One
of the men on the panel said that serving with a woman
was "mighty nice."
But, he added, "My wife doesn't like the idea."
McClennan County had made the "mistake" of allowing women
onto a grand jury in 1921.
The two were Waco resid
ents, one the wife of a lawyer.
Their participation prompt-ed the Texas Supreme Court to toss out
seven convictions after a Waco lawyer raised objections,
according to a 1953 story in the Dallas Morning News.
Shuford Farmer, who represented a man indicted on burglary and theft
charges by that grand jury, argued that the Texas Constitution
specified that juries "shall be composed of twelve men."
The state Court of Criminal Appeals agreed,
noting that the Constitution also said
masculine words could include the feminine,
"unless by reasonable construction it appears that such
was not the intention of the language."
The court also noted the potential fallout.
&qu
ot;To hold that a grand jury may be composed partly of m
en
and partly of women would necessarily imply with the same logic,
or want of logic,
we could also hold
that it might be composed of twelve women,"
the court wrote.
Move for amendment
The decision held until the 1950s,
when a movement arose to amend the state Constitution.
Predictably, the 1954 referendum stirred intense debate.
The Dallas Morning News described a Bell County district attorney
and others in opposition as believing that
"careers and other hindrances of normal home life for women
have contributed enough to divorce without giving wives and mothers
another distraction such as jury service."
Just before the referendum, Farmer said he no longer objected to women
serving on juries, but added that
"ladies themselves may regret it later if they get the right."
The vo
te statewide was 237,078 to 175,539 for the amendment,
with a majority of Harris County voters supporting the measure,
according to the district clerk's office.
Continuing to serve
Fritz Lang's wife, Dorothy, was on a 12-woman jury panel
in Harris County in 1959. He says he doesn't remember
the movement to allow women onto juries or when the law changed,
but he does recall his wife's affinity for serving.
"She answered every call to go down there," Lang said recently of his wife,
who died in 1992. "She saw it as an important duty."
Still, after 50 years,
Lang suggested
women were better off shielded from criminal trials.
"I don't think she would have liked to sit on a murder case
or anything like that," he said.
"She was a gentle person by nature.
But then again, she was very outspoken, too."
roma.khanna@chron.com
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/m...politan/2814176
Legal strides for women came with time
50 years ago, Houstonian was the first female juror
to lawfully sit on Texas panel
By ROMA KHANNA
Copyright
2004 Houston Chronicle
OVER THE YEARS
Texas was among the last states to continue excluding women
from serving on any kind of jury.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�Å¡¢ 1898: Utah becomes the first state to allow women to
sit on juries.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�Å¡¢ 1920: Women get the right to vote, leading 12 states to allow jury service.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�Å¡¢ 1954: Texas permits women to serve on juries.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�Å¡¢ 1957: The Civil Rights Act qualifies all eligible citizens
for federal jury service, regardless of state law.
But it is not immediately implemented.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�Å¡¢ 1965: Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina entirely exclude women
from sitting on juries. Twenty-one states allow women
to serve just as men, while 18 others allow women on juries
but also permit them to decline service simply because they are women.
Eight states allow women to request exemption because of family responsibilities.
"â┚¬Ã…¡ÃƒÆ’”�Å¡¢ 1968: The Federal Jury Selection and Service Act prohibits
excluding jurors on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national
origin
or economic status.
Source: Jo Freeman,
retired lawyer and author of Women: A Feminist Perspective.
When the Texas Supreme Court threw out seven McLennan County
convic
tions in 1921,
including one for murder,
it wasn't because of doubts about the defendants' guilt
or problems with the evidence.
The Waco convictions were overturned
because two women had been among the members
of the indicting grand jury.
Women nationwide had won the right to vote the previous year,
but they stil
l could not serve on juries in Texas.
More than three decades would elapse
before an amendment to the state Constitution
allowed that to happen, clearing the way
for a Houstonian to be the state's first legal woman juror
50 years ago this November.
Miss Louise Summers, as she was known, not only served on the panel
with 11 men, but served as forewoman.
"It was decidedly different having a woman in t
here,"
juror R.M. Templeton told the now-defunct daily Houston Press after the November 1954 trial.
"We couldn't do any cussing."
Texas was
one of a handful of states to maintain
a total exclusion on women's jury service into the mid-1950s,
according to Jo Freeman, a retired lawyer and New York-based
author who has studied the issue.
Texas' decision came years behind a few states that had
allowed women on juries since the 19th century,
and well ahead of others, including Alabama, Mississippi and the federal government.
"I haven't run into states where it took a co
nstitutional amendment
to make it happen. That certainly is rare,"
Freeman said.
"It was usually legislation or, in the last states, a court ruling."
Harris County District Clerk Charles Bacarisse's office began
to study the history of women's jury service in Texas last year
after disc
overing the 50th anniversary was approaching
and that Harris County was the first to impanel a woman.
Surprising reactions
"It is remarkable to think we are coming up on only the 5
0th anniversary,"
Bacarisse said.
"I can't imagine our justice system functioning today
without the participation of everyone, but certainly there was a time
not that long ago when women were not participating."
Bacarisse's office uncovered details of a seldom-told bit of Texas history.
State District Judge Mark Davidson, a history buff,
knew the background on women's jury service,
but was intrigued by male jurors' reactions
to Houston's first female juror.
"The men that were on that jury show
ed attitudes that surprised me
because clearly, they saw a woman being on a jury as a novelty," he said.
"Statements such as,
'My wife doesn't like me being locked up in a jury room with a
woman,'
obviously amused me.
But the files show, once again, that the courts are one of the best
reflections that we have of society."
Summers was chosen just days after a st
atewide referendum confirmed
the right of women to serve on juries.
An accounting clerk at Cameron Ironworks,
she said she lived with her parents and was "over 21."
First participation
Summers and 11 men heard the case of a switchman
who claimed the Texas New Orleans Railroad was responsible
for injuries he suffered when he fell on the job.
She delivered the verdict on Nov. 30, 1954, awarding the switchman $35,675.
"Of course, every fellow stood by his guns," she said of her colleagues
on the jury, according to the Press.
"Everybody knew what was going on and I felt like they adopted me."
One
of the men on the panel said that serving with a woman
was "mighty nice."
But, he added, "My wife doesn't like the idea."
McClennan County had made the "mistake" of allowing women
onto a grand jury in 1921.
The two were Waco resid
ents, one the wife of a lawyer.
Their participation prompt-ed the Texas Supreme Court to toss out
seven convictions after a Waco lawyer raised objections,
according to a 1953 story in the Dallas Morning News.
Shuford Farmer, who represented a man indicted on burglary and theft
charges by that grand jury, argued that the Texas Constitution
specified that juries "shall be composed of twelve men."
The state Court of Criminal Appeals agreed,
noting that the Constitution also said
masculine words could include the feminine,
"unless by reasonable construction it appears that such
was not the intention of the language."
The court also noted the potential fallout.
&qu
ot;To hold that a grand jury may be composed partly of m
en
and partly of women would necessarily imply with the same logic,
or want of logic,
we could also hold
that it might be composed of twelve women,"
the court wrote.
Move for amendment
The decision held until the 1950s,
when a movement arose to amend the state Constitution.
Predictably, the 1954 referendum stirred intense debate.
The Dallas Morning News described a Bell County district attorney
and others in opposition as believing that
"careers and other hindrances of normal home life for women
have contributed enough to divorce without giving wives and mothers
another distraction such as jury service."
Just before the referendum, Farmer said he no longer objected to women
serving on juries, but added that
"ladies themselves may regret it later if they get the right."
The vo
te statewide was 237,078 to 175,539 for the amendment,
with a majority of Harris County voters supporting the measure,
according to the district clerk's office.
Continuing to serve
Fritz Lang's wife, Dorothy, was on a 12-woman jury panel
in Harris County in 1959. He says he doesn't remember
the movement to allow women onto juries or when the law changed,
but he does recall his wife's affinity for serving.
"She answered every call to go down there," Lang said recently of his wife,
who died in 1992. "She saw it as an important duty."
Still, after 50 years,
Lang suggested
women were better off shielded from criminal trials.
"I don't think she would have liked to sit on a murder case
or anything like that," he said.
"She was a gentle person by nature.
But then again, she was very outspoken, too."
roma.khanna@chron.com