Judges behaving badly

Baddie judges from Maine to Virginia

A book to read: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

I LOVE this book!! I know it’s only February, but it’s going to be my favorite read of the year.

Oh wait. Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s newest book comes out next month. That might become my new favorite. Stay tuned.

I started training for a half marathon a few weeks ago, and downloaded The Frozen River to listen to on cold and rainy runs. This was an excellent idea. I was desperate to pull on a sports bra and get out the door every day just so I could dive back into Martha Ballard’s story.

Martha, the protagonist of The Frozen River, is a real historical figure. She was a midwife in Hallowell, Maine. During the late 1700s and early 1800s, she delivered over 1,000 babies.

Crucially, she kept a diary. The handwritten pages were passed down to her daughters and great-granddaughters, preserving her story. You can read it here - good luck!

Screen grab from pbs.org

In her author’s note following the novel, author Ariel Lawhon explains that her novel is very much historical fiction. Lawhon was inspired by Martha’s life and diary. She condensed pieces of history and wove these bits into a story about “what could have happened.”

And what a story it is.

The novel opens with a birth and a death. When a local man (and accused rapist) is cut out of the frozen Kennebec River, Martha inspects the body and pronounces that the man was beaten and hanged before being thrown in the river. A new doctor in town contradicts her in court, declaring the death an accident. Oh, and the judge in this court is also accused of rape.

And then we are off and running, galloping through this plotline as exuberantly as Martha’s horse gallops when spooked by silver foxes.

This being a small town in the 1700s, Martha’s friends and family are all wrapped up and connected to the circumstances surrounding the crimes. The book gives us twists and turns and reveals and babies born and lovers uniting and snow falling and falcons flying. The writing is exquisite, the historical details are totally immersive, and the characters are so real that you want to run miles across frozen rivers to keep them safe.

Or, see them thrown in jail.

A huge chunk of this novel takes place in various courtrooms (or taverns doubling as courtrooms). The book takes place during the winter of 1789-90, the Constitution had been written, but not yet ratified, so justice in the new United States was an iffy situation.

Especially when it comes to rape.

Much like today, powerful men in the 1700s didn’t often get punished for raping women. The Epstein Files would horrify Martha Ballard, but they probably wouldn’t shock her. Not after all that she’s seen.

I’d better stop writing, lest I give away too much of the plot.

If case you need a second opinion, check out Maddy’s review:

Martha Ballard: the American midwife

I also love Kelly Champagne’s review of the book (below). Her review, like mine, gushes about the story and Martha Ballard. But Kelly also writes about her crush on Ephraim Ballard, Martha’s husband.

Same Kelly, same.

If you are Outlander fan, Martha and Ephraim’s marriage has serious Claire and Jaime vibes. Although not a time traveler, Martha is very similar to Outlander’s Claire in temperament (stubborn and feminist), occupation (medicine and holding an unwieldly family together), and degree of sexual desire for her husband (very high).

Ephraim, like Jamie Fraser, is the King of Men. Strong and kind and capable of everything. Read all about him here:

Book Review: The Frozen River

A place to visit: Maine

Sadly, I’ve never been to Hallowell, Maine. Or anywhere in Maine. It’s one of the six states I’ve never been to.

Hopefully, one day I’ll go to Maine and then come back and update this story.

Until then: For gorgeous Maine pictures, go find Benjamin Williamson.

A lesson to teach: More judges behaving badly

In my American Government class, I teach my seniors about the judicial branch by having them study and discuss a case study from Harvard’s Case Method Project

Students learn about a trial in post-Reconstruction Virginia. Two Black boys are accused of murder, and for *some reason* there were no Black men called in for jury duty in the county that was 20% Black. The new 14th amendment was supposed to promise equality, but that didn’t seem to be happening. The lawyer for the Black teenagers asked (repeatedly) for a mixed jury, but the judge repeatedly refused.

It turns out that Virginia state law did not discriminate, but the county judges sure did. They were the ones responsible for making out lists of potential jurors, and they simply eliminated names of Black men. In some Virginia counties, no Black man had EVER sat as a juror.

Here I am explaining the reading:

Judges: Why you gotta be so evil?!?

One federal judge (shoutout to Judge Rives! A good one!) tried to remedy the situation by indicting the racist county judges, but this didn’t go over well in Virginia. The case went to the Supreme Court, and they sided with the racist judges. This pretty much gave the South an open road to segregationist Jim Crow laws for the next 80+ years.

So that sucks.

But it’s a fascinating case to read. My students get pretty into it.

The case and course materials are not mine to share, but check out Harvard’s Case Method Project. They do FABULOUS free trainings for teachers, which will unlock this case study and dozens like it. It’s one of the best professional developments I’ve ever done.

Happy teaching, traveling, and reading! See y’all next Sunday.

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