The Prizefighter’s Penance: John L. Sullivan in Seattle
After his high-profile prizefight in the Pacific Northwest, boxing legend John L. Sullivan faces a harsh judicial reality in a Seattle courtroom.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
In the Sullivan trial, the Assistant Attorney Caltoon presented to the court a petition signed by all the members of the grand jury, requesting the judge to be lenient toward the defendant, John L. Sullivan. The document asked that the court impose a fine for the offense rather than imprisonment in this state. The judge rejected the petition, stating he had to represent public feeling and manners in the court, and without exception, the court must address the defiance of law as best as it could. When asked if he had anything to say before sentencing, the champion stood before the bar, speaking in a clear and steady voice: 'I desire to make no plea. I can only ask for your refinement in this matter. I have done nothing wrong. I have only, in my word, you, I have done nothing in violation of the state district law.' Despite the plea, Sullivan was sentenced to one year in the county jail. Sullivan smiled, even as he was led away to his confinement, acknowledging the sympathetic crowd.
“I have done nothing wrong. I have only, in my word, you, I have done nothing in violation of the state district law.”
Long before sports stardom brought immunity from public life, heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan found himself caught in the rigid legal machinery of Washington territory. His trial echoes the ongoing friction between the city's desire to regulate ‘vice’ and the public’s enduring fascination with the rough-and-tumble figures who define Seattle’s early, brawling culture.
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