The Frozen River

by Ariel Lawhon

The court system in early America was nothing like it is today. At the time this story takes place, the Constitution had existed as the country’s founding legal document for only two and a half years, and the Bill of Rights had not yet been ratified. In Martha’s day there was only the Court of General Sessions (where you could sue your neighbor for petty reasons), the Court of Common Pleas (that considered more serious crimes such as assault), the Supreme Judicial Court (that handled rape, murder, and appeals from the lower courts), and the Supreme Court of the United States (there were only six justices and its first meeting was on February 1, 1790—toward the end of when this story takes place). So when I ask you to take everything you know about due process and legal matters and throw it out the window, that is why. Honestly, the citizens of early America were lucky to have a justice system at all.