Privy examination
Encyclopedia
A privy examination, or "separate examination", was a United States legal practice in which a married woman who wished to sell her property had to be separately examined by a judge
or justice of the peace
outside of the presence of her husband and asked if her husband was pressuring her into signing the document. This practice, which emerged from English common law
, was seen as a means to protect married women's property from overbearing husbands. A number of U.S. states continued to require privy examinations into the late 20th century.
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
or justice of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
outside of the presence of her husband and asked if her husband was pressuring her into signing the document. This practice, which emerged from English common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
, was seen as a means to protect married women's property from overbearing husbands. A number of U.S. states continued to require privy examinations into the late 20th century.
Further reading
- Stacy Braukman and Michael Ross, “Married Women’s Property and Male Coercion: United States Courts and the Role of the Privy Examination, 1860-1883,” Journal of Women’s History, 12 (Summer 2000): 57-80. For an online version of this article see: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_womens_history/v012/12.2braukman.html
- For information on the role of the privy exam in the 18th century see: Mary Lynn Salmon, Women and the Law of Property in Early America (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1989) http://womenshistory.about.com/od/marriedwomensproperty/a/property_1848ny.htm