Convict Voices by Schwan Anne;

Author:Schwan, Anne;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of New Hampshire Press

FIGURE 5.1 Florence Maybrick’s “Criminal Court Procedure in England and America” in the New-York Tribune Sunday Magazine, 22 Jan. 1905

Echoing Gail Hamilton’s furious attack on old-world barbarism, Maybrick similarly constructs America as a progressive, enlightened nation where the “unfortunate” are treated in an “altogether humane way” (“Criminal Court Procedure”). This journalistic critique of the English criminal justice system complements Maybrick’s complaints in her autobiography, in which, despite her admiration for her defense counsel, Lord Russell, she speaks in no uncertain terms of her dissatisfaction with her adopted country’s legal system, concluding, “It looks as if justice in England were growing of late more than ordinarily blind” (Own Story 154). Contrasting the English government with the English people, the American writes, “The supineness of Parliament in not establishing a court of criminal appeal fastens a dark blot upon the judicature of England, and is inconsistent with the innate love of justice and fair play of its people” (89). Through her lengthy discussion of the case of the Norwegian Adolf Beck, in the words of one commentator “an innocent and inoffensive foreigner” who was convicted twice for crimes committed by somebody else, she further emphasizes nationality as a contributing factor and lends credence to her own account of American innocence unjustly condemned (159).32

In the “Criminal Court Procedure” article, Maybrick, by declaring “pride in [her] countrymen,” arguably mobilizes a nationalist rhetoric to firmly reposition herself from former pariah to patriotic citizen who deserves her hard-won place in the bosom of her nation. Through an analysis of English court architecture and protocol, which she reads as a reflection of social hierarchies, she affirms the democratic values promoted in the US Constitution as opposed to the autocratic power enjoyed by the English judge, who represents “the personified majesty of the law.” Ironically, the accompanying illustration of “Mrs. Maybrick on Trial,” reprinted from the London Graphic, undercuts this argument by emphasizing the female defendant’s imperious presence in the center foreground, while the judge appears diminutive in the background (see figure 5.2). Maybrick’s celebration of America’s supposed egalitarianism is further undermined by her dismissive comments about the constitution of her “‘common’ jury” elsewhere, comments which betray her classist attitudes.

Throughout the article, similar to the autobiography, Maybrick walks a fine line between asserting female independence—not least by speaking out in public—and promoting the necessity for paternalistic support for falsely accused women, for example, by highlighting the role of Patterson’s “aged father” during the trial: “her white-haired, natural protector was ever by her side to cheer and support her.” Reflecting on the selection of the jury, she concedes that not all women may be able to choose “in their own interest” but also insists that women’s “intuitions” can and should be brought to bear. Close in tone to the spiritualist Fletcher’s call for a female defendant’s right of active involvement, Maybrick concludes that regardless of women’s qualifications for making informed legal choices, a sense of ownership in the process is key: “there surely is something satisfying in the mere thought that you have not been dragged to your doom.

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