Feminism and Criminal Justice Reform

Gender discrimination and juries in the 20th century

“…For beyond the common law, see Pastovic, 2016. 2See Cornish (1971);Logan (2008); Logan (2013); Crosby (2016); Crosby (2017).3 See note 58 below.…”

Political Life in the Shadows: the post suffrage political career of S. Margery Fry (1874–1958)

“…11 The present study situates Margery Fry as a feminist subject of a feminist biography. By taking a broad definition of feminists as people 'whose words or actions indicate that they perceived gendered inequalities in social relationships and in access to power, and who consciously decided to take some action, however small, to improve the status or condition of women', 12 it is possible to include within the definition women (like Fry) whose actions told eloquently of their feminism even if they generally preferred not to self-label as such. Writing in the early 1960s, before the advent of 'second wave' feminism, Jones underplayed Fry's feminism, even as she details her battles for women's right to vote, be educated, and to have worthwhile careers.…”

“…26 The NUWW, later renamed the National Council of Women, became a vital element in the national feminist-criminal justice network which Margery helped to construct in the aftermath of suffrage. 27 The war years represent a watershed in Margery Fry's personal history. This turning point came not only for personal reasons but also because of the era's great events-war, enfranchisement and the 'flu pandemic.…”

“…Her appointment as a magistrate in 1919 bestowed the status that provided her entrée to the world of the 'statutory woman' at central government level-as well as giving hands-on experience of the administration of justiceand in 1921 she helped to establish the Magistrates' Association. 35 Her intellectual, as well as her practical, organisational self, had full reign in HLPR activities: in the same year the Howard Journal, which she initially edited, was launched. Family duties remained important to Margery, but were suitably combined with public work.…”

‘Building a New and Better Order’? Women and Jury Service in England and Wales,c.1920–70

“…However, evidence suggests that these organisations worked together on the jury issue while the leadership of the NCW's relevant committee, the Public Service and Magistrates Committee (PSMC), was unequivocally feminist in both periods. 13 Unlike the magistracy, jury service was not a voluntary activity, and was seen by many people as an imposition and an unpleasant obligation. The use of juries in criminal trials dated back to the early thirteenth century at least 14 and trial by one's peers was often regarded proudly, if romantically, by radicals as emblematic of English liberty.…”