Reardon, Estelle C.

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St. John's University School of Law

St. John's Law Review Volume 12 Number 1 Volume 12, November 1937, Number 1 Article 31 May 2014 The Woman Juror Law Estelle C. Reardon Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/lawreview Recommended Citation Reardon, Estelle C. (1937) "The Woman Juror Law," St. John's Law Review: Vol. 12 : No. 1 , Article 31. Available at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/lawreview/vol12/iss1/31 This Recent Development in New York Law is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in St. John's Law Review by an authorized editor of St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact selbyc@stjohns.edu. ST. JOHN'S LAW REVIEWupon the breached accord. The debtor may compel the creditor toacknowledge the promise of suspension of the original claim containedin the written accord, so that he may have the time allotted to him toperform his promises.Y6 If the creditor breaches his promise to ab-stain from prosecuting his original action the debtor may defend theaction by pleading the executory accord, or may counterclaim fordamages for the breach, or may institute an original action foundedon the written unperformed agreement. 17The change decreed by the legislative act brings the doctrine ofunexecuted accord into the rule of "Mutuality of Obligation". Nolonger is the promise of the creditor illusory. Mutual rights andduties have been settled upon the parties to the executory accord,which the law can enforce by appropriate action.ARTHUR GREENSPAN.THE WOMAN JUROR LAw.--The Legislature of the State of NewYork has recently enacted the so-called Woman Juror Law.' Bythis enactment several sections of the Judiciary Law 2 are amended,in relation to the qualifications and exemption of women as jurors.Whereas, in relation to the qualifications of trial jurors, Section 502of the Judiciary Law formerly read:"1. A male citizen, and a resident of the county",it is now provided:"1. °A citizen of the United States, and a resident of thecounty."And so by the deletion of the one word "male" a vast change in theadministration of justice has been effected, and the possible number" RESTATEMENT, CONTRACTS (1932) § 417: "If the creditor breaks such acontract, the debtor's original duty is not discharged. The debtor acquires aright of action for damages for the breach, and if specific enforcement of thatcontract is practicable, he acquires an alternative right to the specific perfori..-ance thereof. If the contract is enforced specifically, his original duty isdischarged."17 Chandler v. Pomeroy, 143- U. S. 318 (1891); Matter of Freeman, 117Fed. 680 (N. D. N. Y. 1902); Deen v. Milne, 113 N. Y. 303 (1889) ; Bandmannv. Finn, 185 N. Y. 508 (1906); Cook v. Richardson, 178 Mass. 125, 59 N. E. 675(1901).' Laws of 1937, c. 513. The bill was introduced by Mr. Kleinfeld ofBrooklyn on Jan. 11, 1937, was sent to the Governor on May 7, was signed byhim on May 24, and went into effect on Sept. 1. Several bills relating to thesame subject had recently been introduced, both by Miss Byrne of the Bronxand Miss Todd of Westchester, but all were defeated.'N. Y. CONSOL. LAWS, c. 30.[ VOL. 12CURRENT LEGISLATIONof those citizens who might be qualified to serve as jurors is greatlyincreased.Subdivision 3 of Section 502, requiring property qualificationsof jurors, has also been amended. Formerly it read :3"Assessed, for personal property, belonging to him, in hisown right, to the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars, orthe owner of a freehold estate in real property situated in thecounty, belonging to him in his own right, of the value of onehundred and fifty dollars; or the husband of a woman who isthe owner of a like freehold estate, belonging to her, in her ownright * *It now reads:"Assessed for personal property, belonging to him or her,in his or her own right, to the amount of two hundred andfifty dollars; or the owner of a freehold estate in real prop-erty, situated in the county, belonging to him or her in his orher own right of the value of one hundred and fifty dollars;or the husband or wife of a person who is the owner of a likefreehold estate, belonging to said person, in his or her ownright **There is yet another important change in the judiciary Law,4 wherebyis added to the list of classes of persons who, although qualified, areentitled to exemption from service as a trial juror upon claiming ex-emption therefrom, the classification of "a woman."Thus, the effect of this recent legislation is to permit women toserve as jurors, provided they have the necessary qualifications, whichqualifications have been made exactly the same as those required ofmale jurors. However, it is important to note that the effect of thislaw has not been to put men and women on an equal basis with ref-erence to jury service, for the law permits any woman to claim ex-emption merely on the ground of sex. In passing this legislation per-mitting women to serve as trial jurors, New York has been butN. Y. CONSOL. LAWS, c. 30, § 502. The following statutes, whose wordingis the same as that quoted here, have also been amended by c. 513, §§ 4, 6,Laws of 1937: (a) Subdivisions one and three of section five hundred andninety-eight of chapter thirty; and (b) Subdivisions one and three of sectionsix hundred and eighty-six of the same chapter.'Laws of 1937, c. 513, §§ 3, 5, 7. These sections of the Act amend thefollowing sections of Chapter 30 of the Consolidated Laws: section five hundredand forty-six, as added by chapter eight hundred and ninety of the laws ofnineteen hundred thirty-six; section six hundred and thirty-five, as added bychapter eight hundred and ninety of the laws of nineteen hundred thirty-six;section seven hundred and twenty, as added by chapter eight hundred andninety of the laws of nineteen hundred thirty-six.1937]ST. JOHN'S LAW REVIEWfollowing in the footsteps of some of her more progressive sister-states. Both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, for example, have hadwomen as jurors for some time; but their laws differ from the presentlaw in our own state, in that they do not permit a woman, at her owndiscretion, to decide whether she will or will not serve as a juror. Inthese two states, the law in this respect treats men and women impar-tially, so that a woman who possessed all the qualifications deemednecessary by the law may not thereafter escape jury duty merely be-cause she is a woman.Today the majority of the legal disabilities once imposed uponwomen have been discarded, and, in return for the removal of thesedisabilities, the Legislature has compelled women to give up someof the special privileges in which they have long been indulged by thelaw. At the present time, women pay taxes for the support of ourgovernment at the same rates as do men, women legislators help tomake our laws, women lawyers argue in our courts, women are gov-erned by the same laws as are men and are tried for breaking themin exactly the same manner. Is it not then an anachronism to barthem from jury service merely because of their sex?Those who do not look with favor upon the law because it doesnot go far enough argue that, since women have substantially thesame rights and privileges under our laws as do men, the same cor-relative duties should be imposed upon them, and that there is nomore logical reason for exempting "a woman" from jury service thanthere would be for exempting "a man." It is conceded that in somespecial instances, such as small children to be cared for, or illness inthe home, or some similar domestic situation, women should be ex-cused from jury duty, but there should be no blanket right of exemp-tion for all women. And it is further argued that the tendency willbe for the most competent and intelligent type of woman to take ad-vantage of the exemption-the woman in business, the teacher, thehome-maker with many domestic tasks,--while those least fitted toserve will take advantage of their new privilege-the morbidly curi-ous, the idle woman who finds time hanging heavily on her hands, theseeker of thrills.It would seem that the logic of the case lies with those who con-tend that the law does not go far enough. It is to be hoped that inthe near future the Legislature will complete the work it has started,by following the more progressive states in placing jury service formen and women on exactly the same basis.ESTELLE C. REARDON.[ VOL. 12

The Woman Juror Law

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The Woman Juror Law

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