'Assault in the The daily morning journal and courier (New Haven), 1880-1900'

One of the clear examples of domestic violence in the Morning Journal and Courier comes from February 17, 1880, when John McGarry was charged with assaulting his wife in New Haven. McGarry had come home drunk and violently attacked his wife, causing enough harm that the case was brought before Judge Pardee. After hearing the evidence, the judge decided the attack was severe and stated that McGarry “ought to be severely punished.” He sentenced him to three months in jail, which was an unusually harsh punishment for domestic violence during this period. 

What makes this case stand out is that McGarry had already appeared in court just ten days earlier, on February 7, 1880, for a similar offense. During this case the judge warned him that if he assaulted his wife again, he'd be sent to jail. When McGarry reoffended, Judge Pardee did what he said he would and gave him a harsher sentence. This shows that while courts were often lenient with domestic violence cases, repeat offenders could sometimes face stronger consequences.

While McGarry’s three-month jail sentence shows the court taking action unfortunetly, it was still a rare outcome. Most cases of domestic violence ended with small fines, warnings, or no punishment at all. The law treated violence within the home differently from public assaults. This reinforced the patriarchal idea that husbands had control over their households and should be allowed to do what they thought fit. This left many women with little legal protection, even when abuse was frequent and severe. In the 1900s we see far fewer instances of domestic abuse as society slowly starts change.