Bradley v. State

Calvin Bradley v. State, 1 Miss. 156 (1824), was a case in which the Supreme Court of Mississippi ruled on the question of "whether a husband can commit an assault and battery upon the body of his wife."[1]

Background

According to the ruling, "The indictment charged the defendant with having made an assault upon one Lydia Bradly, and then and there did beat, bruise, &c.-and the jury have found the defendant guilty".

Ruling

The court ruled:

Family broils and dissentions cannot be investigated before the tribunals of the country, without casting a shade over the character of those who are unfortunately engaged in the controversy. To screen from public reproach those who may be thus unhappily situated, let the husband be permitted to exercise the right of moderate chastisement, in cases of great emergency, and use salutary restraints in every case of misbehaviour, without being subjected to vexatious prosecutions, resulting in the mutual discredit and shame of all parties concerned. Judgment affirmed.

Legacy

In Harris v. State, 71 Miss. 462 (1894), the Mississippi Supreme Court found that the decision in Bradley "has never since received countenance; and it is superfluous to now say that the blind adherence shown in that case to revolting precedent has long been utterly repudiated, in the administration of criminal law in our courts."[2]

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References
  1. http://tjsl.trdx.com/sites/default/files/document-library/bradley_v_state.pdf This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. Stedman, Beirne (August 1917). "Right of Husband to Chastise Wife". The Virginia Law Register. 3 (4): 241–248.
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