James v. Commonwealth
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
IN ERROR. This was a writ of error to the Court of Quarter Sessions of Philadelphia county; at the September sessions of which court, Nancy James, the plaintiff in error, had been convicted of being a common scold, and thereupon, on the 29th day of October, 1824, adjudged “to be placed in a certain engine of correction, called a cucking, or ducking stool, on Wednesday, the third day of November, then next ensuing, between the hours of ten and twelve o’clock in the morning,…
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IN ERROR. This was a writ of error to the Court of Quarter Sessions of Philadelphia county; at the September sessions of which court, Nancy James, the plaintiff in error, had been convicted of being a common scold, and thereupon, on the 29th day of October, 1824, adjudged “to be placed in a certain engine of correction, called a cucking, or ducking stool, on Wednesday, the third day of November, then next ensuing, between the hours of ten and twelve o’clock in the morning, and being so placed therein, to be plunged three times into the water; to pay the costs of prosecution, and stand…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Duncan, J.
The judgment was, “ that the defendant be placed in a ducking or cucking stool, and be plunged three times in the water.55 This sentence, we are informed, has created much ferment and excitement in the public mind. It is considered as a cruel, unusual, unnatural, and ludicrous judgment. But whatever prejudices may exist against it, still, if it be the law of the land, the court must pronounce judgment for it.
But, as it is revolting to humanity, and is of that description that only could have been invented in an age of barbarism, we ought to…
2Cases cited2 opinions
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- Stoever v. Lessee of WhitmanSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1814
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