Respublica v. Roberts
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
The defendant was tried at the last Nisi Prius court for Bucks county, and a special verdict found by consent. It stated, that he was an unmarried man, and had been guilty of criminal conversation with Isabella M’Glister, a married woman, her husband being then and now in full life. And whether the same were punishable as adultery in him, was the question.
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The defendant was tried at the last Nisi Prius court for Bucks county, and a special verdict found by consent. It stated, that he was an unmarried man, and had been guilty of criminal conversation with Isabella M’Glister, a married woman, her husband being then and now in full life. And whether the same were punishable as adultery in him, was the question. He had also been charged with bastardy, but as the attorney general had admitted at the trial that her husband had not been far distant from her, and that she was not a competent witness to prove the want of access, he was acquitted of that…
1Opinion of the Court
Per Cur.
The single question is, whether an unmarried man may be guilty of adultery, under the act of assembly. Originally the offence was of temporal jurisdiction, but after the statute of cirmmspecte agatis, it was remitted to the bishop of Norwich, and through him to the spiritual courts.
Had the case been res integra, the decision of the court might be different from what it now is. It is true that practice sttb silentio will not make the law, but it is strong evidence of what the law is. It having been the constant practice to proceed against unmarried persons for fornication, though they…
2Cited by14 opinions
- Cook v. StateSupreme Court of Georgia · 1852
- Commonwealth v. MoonSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1942
- Dinkey v. CommonwealthSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1851
- State v. RobeyNevada Supreme Court · 1873
- State v. LashSupreme Court of New Jersey · 1838
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