Boston's Criminal Courts - 1814-1850 - Executive Summary

• NCJ Number: 95255
• Author(s): T N Ferdinand
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 28 pages
• Grant Number(s): 79-NI-AX-0001
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This document summarizes an historical study of Boston's crime patterns during 1814-50 and the police and municipal courts' responses to a changing socioeconomic environment.

Abstract

During the antebellum period, Boston grew from a small seaport to a major commercial center, the court system expanded as the church lost its authority over minor deviance, and due process and training of lawyers changed. This research obtained data from the records of the police court and the municipal court, coding approximately 30,000 cases from the former and 9,200 from the latter. Prosecutions in both courts declined in the 1820's and 1830's, but began to rise in 1836. One activity that received increasing attention was liquor consumption, as liquor law violations and public drunkenness offenses increased. Serious property crime also rose in the late postbellum period. Juveniles were increasingly active in crime, particularly property offenses, due partly to the depression of 1836-42. Minor assault and battery cases became less common in both courts, probably because they represented private disputes and were discouraged by the courts. Juvenile crime rose sharply between 1829 and 1850. While adult females were not prominent in crime, married women tended to commit violent crime as the period wore on, and single women became involved in prostitution more frequently. In the municipal court, laborers dominated the crime picture from 1814 to 1842 when businessmen became the largest group. The courts prosecuted serious property crime aggressively, but rarely tried private disputes, business regulatory offenses, and vice cases. A high percentage of guilty pleas among business regulatory and vice offenses suggests that plea bargaining was common. Evidence also suggests that such pleas were accompanied by reduced sentences. Property crime offenders were regularly given prison sentences, whereas felonies, minor crimes, and assault and battery most often occasioned fines. Graphs and three references are supplied.