Girls in Custody: Moral Policing & Juvenile Delinquency in Early 20th-Century Seattle

Emily Hidalgo Author

07/27/2021 Added

10 Plays

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Looking at Habeas Corpus petitions that deal with the moral policing and confinement of girls and women from the early 20th century.

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[00:00:00.540]Hello and good morning.
[00:00:02.580]My name is Emily Hidalgo and thank you for attending and my presentation on
[00:00:06.240]girls in custody, moral policing,
[00:00:08.460]and juvenile delinquency in the early 20th century, Seattle Washington,
[00:00:12.870]my presentation topic stems from our work this summer alongside Dr.
[00:00:16.380]Katrina Jagodinsky and the center for digital research in the humanities on the
[00:00:20.700]petition for freedom project.
[00:00:26.520]The project works with habeas Corpus petitions from 1812 to 1924,
[00:00:31.920]to see where and how marginalized people in communities have utilized the law to
[00:00:36.600]their benefits.
[00:00:38.550]A writ of habeas Corpus is a petition made before a court to determine if it
[00:00:42.840]detention and imprisonment was unlawful within the freedom
[00:00:47.490]project.
[00:00:47.970]The team takes Habeas Corpus hand written court documents such as the picture on the left,
[00:00:51.480]which can be hard to read and transcribed them to make them more accessible.
[00:00:56.160]Then identifying factors of such cases, such as the case name,
[00:01:00.420]the judge ruling and irrelevant names.
[00:01:02.700]Aren't coded to make the case easier to navigate electronically.
[00:01:07.380]The entire process contributes to a database of around 8,000 habeas Corpus
[00:01:11.640]petitions. The finished product looks a lot like the picture on the right,
[00:01:19.240]the cases I've decided to focus on from the freedom project,
[00:01:22.840]where those that have to do with the policing and reformation of young girls and
[00:01:26.740]women who are deemed immoral and hazardous to public health.
[00:01:32.170]While these women illnesses were never listed the hazard,
[00:01:35.410]they most likely provided to the public health.
[00:01:38.200]Given the context, was a contagious venereal disease.
[00:01:42.880]This is supported by the 1916 Washington statute, number 25 39,
[00:01:47.920]which states that even if unintentional,
[00:01:50.650]the contagious infectious disease can be charged with a misdemeanor.
[00:01:56.620]Additionally, these petitioners were both charged as minors,
[00:02:01.090]which under the 1916 Washington statute number 1987 dash
[00:02:05.800]one states that the juvenile court of law shall be applied to any child under
[00:02:10.720]the age of 18 found to be a delinquent or dependent.
[00:02:19.240]The first habeas Corpus petition I wanted to highlight is that of Gladys
[00:02:23.260]Federika Fuson versus Washington filed in
[00:02:27.580]1916.
[00:02:32.250]Gladys,
[00:02:32.760]the petitioner filed for writ of habeas Corpus for her own lawful arrest without
[00:02:37.080]a warrant.
[00:02:38.910]She believed her imprisonment was meant to restrain her from participating
[00:02:43.890]and defending herself in her.
[00:02:45.510]Husband's filing for a divorce at 17,
[00:02:48.900]she was found to be a delinquent child whose living conditions were putting her
[00:02:52.410]moral welfare at jeopardy.
[00:02:55.950]She was originally placed in a girl's home. Yet.
[00:02:58.180]When she was found to be married to is instead held at Jefferson county,
[00:03:02.950]the court charge of delinquency was based on their personal assessment of the
[00:03:07.090]status and safety of her morality.
[00:03:14.230]The next case is a case of Genevive Wilds versus Washington filed in
[00:03:18.370]1918 Genevive the petitioner filed for a writ.
[00:03:22.060]of Habeas Corpus to petition for her imprisonment under the order of J. S. McBride,
[00:03:26.830]the health official of the city of Seattle, according to the order,
[00:03:31.090]her confinement was issued so that she could receive treatment for a disease
[00:03:34.990]that not only did she not have but that there was treatment for it at the time.
[00:03:37.990]Ironically,
[00:03:40.240]the condition she was being exposed to under her confinement was jeopardizing
[00:03:44.800]her health.
[00:03:45.460]And the integrity of the very moral the court was attempting to protect
[00:03:50.500]given the era Genevieve's disease was most likely related to the exposure and
[00:03:54.820]contagion of sexually transmitted diseases.
[00:04:03.250]Looking ahead at the significance of this project,
[00:04:06.400]the cases of Genevieve and Gladys,
[00:04:09.040]both reveal how their actions and perception of their moral ultimately left them
[00:04:13.690]vulnerable to their policing and detention in dangerous and inhumane conditions.
[00:04:19.450]Habeas was an early tool,
[00:04:20.890]used the challenge that's unlawful confinements in treatment.
[00:04:26.500]Future applications of this project is that while the cases I highlighted took
[00:04:31.030]place in 1916 and 1918,
[00:04:34.000]they serve as pretenses to the confinement and justification of forced.
[00:04:38.800]and coerced,
[00:04:39.340]sterilization of women in the later mid to late 20th century during the
[00:04:44.020]eugenics movement within the U S
[00:04:47.110]these women later in history found themselves in similar conditions described in
[00:04:51.250]the cases of Genevieve and Gladys. Public databases,
[00:04:56.230]covering habeas Corpus,
[00:04:58.660]such as these can be later used to find and retell these very same stories
[00:05:04.750]With that. I thank you once more for coming to my presentations.
[00:05:09.340]Thank you.

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Girls in Custody: Moral Policing & Juvenile Delinquency in Early 20th-Century Seattle

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