The Seattle Judge Who Stood Up to 'Professional' Idlers
When a woman shot her abusive husband in 1886, a Seattle judge refused to convict her, explicitly calling out a class of men who lived off the earnings of their wives' shame.
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.
Judge Lawler, of the Police Court, rendered his decision today in the case of Mrs. Mattie Levison, who on the 2d of last February shot and wounded her husband, Wm. Levison. 'In this case,' said Lawler, 'there is no doubt that Levison was shot, but the question was whether or not the defendant had any justification in doing so. It has been shown that since his marriage to the defendant, Levison has never done any work, and frequently expressed a desire that his wife should support him by living a life of shame. In this city as well as other cities there is a class of men, or more properly speaking, loafers, who are not satisfied with marrying good industrious women, but must live off the earnings of their shame. To rid the community of this class would indeed be a great boon. Defendant in this case was fully justified in doing as she did. The case is dismissed.'
“There is a class of men, or more properly speaking, loafers, who are not satisfied with marrying good industrious women, but must live off the earnings of their shame.”
This 1886 report from Seattle highlights a stark, century-old struggle against economic exploitation and domestic abuse. While the judge's language was typical of the era's moralizing tone, his decision to prioritize the safety of an exploited woman over the 'rights' of a predatory husband reflects a perennial tension in the city's legal history regarding housing, labor, and personal autonomy.
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