Gray v. Pitts

Last updated

Gray v. Pitts (1771) was a Suffolk Inferior Court and, later, Superior Court case in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts which contemporary historians have regarded as an example of the "gay panic" defense and an early case regarding cross-dressing in Colonial America. [1] [2]

Contents

Background

In 1771 in Boston, a young man Lendall (sometimes spelled "Lindall") Pitts, the son of James Pitts, physically assaulted another young man, John Gray, outside of a local barbershop. At the time, Pitts had shown attraction and "very loving" behavior towards Gray and "gallanted" (flirted) with him, assuming he was a young woman due to Gray's appearance and state of dress. After later realizing that Gray was, in fact, a male, Lendall struck Gray in the scalp with a walking stick, causing a wound to his scalp. [3]

Case

After the assault, Gray decided to press charges against Pitts. Prior to the court proceedings, John Adams was appointed as the attorney for Pitts and Josiah Quincy Jr. as the attorney for Gray. [3]

The first hearing was held in July 1771 in the Suffolk Interior Court, where Gray sued Pitts for £300. [1]

During the hearings, William Molineux testified in Pitt's defense, stating that Gray had dressed in women's clothes and had the "outward appearance of a woman." Other witnesses testified regarding the assault that had taken place. According to the Legal Papers of John Adams, "from a technical standpoint, the case is interesting because, although the plea was not guilty, Adams was allowed to introduce evidence in justification of the blow." [3]

As an outcome of the first case, the jury awarded Gray £5 in compensatory damages. Gray appealed this award to the Suffolk Superior Court, where a new jury increased the damages to £18. Historians and LGBT scholars including Jonathan Ned Katz and Robert Qaks have regarded that Pitt's feelings of insult and anger may have arisen from being an object of jest, and from inadvertently experiencing feelings of attraction for a male that he thought was female, which would regard his defense as an early example of the gay or trans panic defense in a court setting. [1]

Outcome

Although presiding judge of the Superior Court and colonial Governor Thomas Hutchinson cited a 1696 Massachusetts law (c. 2, §7, 1 A&R 208, 210) which prohibited men or women from cross-dressing, the jury still awarded £18 in compensatory damages to Gray and found him innocent of any guilt or provocation. [1]

Aftermath and significance

The Gray v. Pitts case has been documented and included in the Legal Papers of John Adams. It is primarily preserved in the public record because of Adams' own writings and shorthand notes taken before and during the court proceedings. [3] The case has also been archived and researched as part of the OutHistory LGBT in Colonial America exhibit. [4]

Related Research Articles

Punitive damages, or exemplary damages, are damages assessed in order to punish the defendant for outrageous conduct and/or to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit. Although the purpose of punitive damages is not to compensate the plaintiff, the plaintiff will receive all or some of the punitive damages in award.

A writ of prohibition is a writ directing a subordinate to stop doing something the law prohibits. This writ is often issued by a superior court to the lower court directing it not to proceed with a case which does not fall under its jurisdiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court</span> Highest court in the U.S. state of Massachusetts

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-economic damages caps</span> Limitations in lawsuits

Non-economic damages caps are tort reforms to limit damages in lawsuits for subjective, non-pecuniary harms such as pain, suffering, inconvenience, emotional distress, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, and loss of enjoyment of life. This is opposed to economic damages, which encompasses pecuniary harms such as medical bills, lost wages, lost future income, loss of use of property, costs of repair or replacement, the economic value of domestic services, and loss of employment or business opportunities. Non-economic damages should not be confused with punitive or exemplary damages, which are awarded purely to penalise defendants and do not aim to compensate either pecuniary or non-pecuniary losses.

Quock Walker, also known as Kwaku or Quork Walker, was an American slave who sued for and won his freedom suit case in June 1781. The court cited language in the new Massachusetts Constitution (1780) that declared all men to be born free and equal. The case is credited with helping abolish slavery in Massachusetts, although the 1780 constitution was never amended to explicitly prohibit the practice. Massachusetts was the first state of the union to effectively and fully abolish slavery. By the 1790 federal census, no slaves were recorded in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of slavery in Massachusetts</span>

Slavery was practiced in Massachusetts bay by Native Americans before European settlement, and continued until its abolition in the 1700s. Although slavery in the United States is typically associated with the Caribbean and the Antebellum American South, enslaved people existed to a lesser extent in New England: historians estimate that between 1755 and 1764, the Massachusetts enslaved population was approximately 2.2 percent of the total population; the slave population was generally concentrated in the industrial and coastal towns. Unlike in the American South, enslaved people in Massachusetts had legal rights, including the ability to file legal suits in court.

Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company was a personal injury tort case decided in Orange County, California in February 1978 and affirmed by a California appellate court in May 1981. The lawsuit involved the safety of the design of the Ford Pinto automobile, manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. The jury awarded plaintiffs $127.8 million in damages, the largest ever in US product liability and personal injury cases. Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company was one of the most widely publicized of the more than a hundred lawsuits brought against Ford in connection with rear-end accidents in the Pinto. The trial judge reduced the jury's punitive damages award to $3.5 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Otis Jr.</span> 18th-century colonial American lawyer and political activist

James Otis Jr. was an American lawyer, political activist, colonial legislator, and early supporter of patriotic causes in Massachusetts Bay Colony at the beginning of the Revolutionary Era. Otis was a fervent opponent of the writs of assistance imposed by Great Britain on the American colonies in the early 1760s which allowed law enforcement officials to search private property without cause. He later expanded his criticism of British authority to include tax measures that were being enacted by Parliament. As a result, Otis is often incorrectly credited with coining the slogan "taxation without representation is tyranny".

Bernard F. Baran Jr. was an American day care employee wrongfully convicted in the day care sex abuse hysteria of the 1980s and 1990s that was spawned by the McMartin preschool trial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Massachusetts</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the U.S. state of Massachusetts enjoy the same rights as non-LGBT people. The U.S. state of Massachusetts is one of the most LGBT-friendly states in the country. In 2004, it became the first U.S. state to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the decision in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, and the sixth jurisdiction worldwide, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Municipal Court</span> Trial court in Massachusetts, United States

The Boston Municipal Court (BMC), officially the Boston Municipal Court Department of the Trial Court, is a department of the Trial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The court hears criminal, civil, mental health, restraining orders, and other types of cases. The court also has an appellate division which reviews questions of law that arise from civil matters filed in the eight divisions of the department.

Florida Star v. B.J.F., 491 U.S. 524 (1989), is a United States Supreme Court case involving freedom of the press and privacy rights. After The Florida Star newspaper revealed the full name of a rape victim it got from a police report, the victim sued for damages. State law made it illegal for a publication to print a rape victim's name, and the victim was awarded damages. On appeal, the Supreme Court ruled the imposition of damages for truthfully publishing public information violates the First Amendment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Pitts (American Patriot)</span>

James Pitts (1712–1776) was a Massachusetts merchant and an early American Patriot.

William Browne was a justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature from 1774 to 1775, and Governor of Bermuda from 1782 to 1788.

Jenny Slew was one of the first black Americans to sue for her freedom, and the first person to succeed through trial by jury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Kent</span> American lawyer active during the American Revolution

Benjamin Kent (1708–1788) was a Massachusetts Attorney General (1776–1777) and then acting Attorney General during much of Robert Treat Paine's tenure (1777–1785). He was appointed seven successive terms. Prior to the American Revolution, Kent was notable for his representation of slaves suing their masters for their freedom, which contributed to the demise of slavery in Massachusetts. He was a member of the North End Caucus and prominent member of the Sons of Liberty, which formed to protest the passage of the Stamp Act of 1765. The efforts of the Sons of Liberty created the foundation for the Boston Tea Party. Kent called for independence early in the American Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnstable's Olde Colonial Courthouse</span>

Barnstable's Olde Colonial Courthouse, at 3046 Main St. in Barnstable, MA, was constructed c.1763, to replace Barnstable County's first courthouse nearby. Barnstable County comprises all of Cape Cod, MA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grievances of the United States Declaration of Independence</span> 27 colonial grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence

The 27 grievances is a section from the United States Declaration of Independence. The Second Continental Congress's Committee of Five drafted the document listing their grievances with the actions and decisions of King George III with regard to the Colonies in North America. The Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to adopt and issue the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

Smithfield Foods has been sued multiple times related to the disposal of hog waste using anaerobic lagoons. State governments have responded to the suits against Smithfield and similar litigation by strengthening ”Right-to-Farm” laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ezekiel Goldthwait</span> American politician

Ezekiel Goldthwait was an American merchant and landowner. Born in Boston, the capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, he rose to become on the city's leading citizens in the years leading to the American Revolution.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Suffolk Inferior Court, Boston: Gray v. Pitts, July 26, 1771 · Colonial America: The Age of Sodomitical Sin · OutHistory". outhistory.org. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  2. "Gray vs. Pitts. Assault and Battery. - Trial Minutes". Massachusetts Historical Society.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Legal Papers of John Adams. Harvard University Press. 1968.
  4. "Colonial America: The Age of Sodomitical Sin · OutHistory". outhistory.org. Retrieved February 2, 2023.