New Britain herald., 1925-10-03
WOMEN INSULTED
BY BAR REPORT
Mrs, Whitney AsSailS New
10 r.
Haven Lawyers


sepha Whitney, who attended many
sessions of the trial OF olympia Ma
cri, has replied 10 sections Of re-
port filed yesterday by n committee
of the New Haven County Bar as
sociation, which had been investigat-
ing alleged unethiCal practices of
Joseph Koletsky, counsel for Miss
Maori.
atmosphere" Charge
The committees report critics.
ed women who unofficially partici-
patcd In the trial for the purpose of
creating an atmosphere,
Mrs. Whitneys statement said In
part:
"In the name OF the women who
attended different sections OF the
Maori trial, solcmnly protest
against the insulting statements
made about them in the report Of
the committee OF the bar associa-
ton. A. majority Of the members
who were present at the meeting
refused to accept the report and
voted TO have 1t filed for future con-
sideration, / am told. Then the gem
tlemen of the bar of New Haven
will have an opportunity TO reject
this report and so indirectly make
the apology due TO the women who
have been publicly insulted.
Women At Trial
These women who attended the
trial comprise among their number
| the wives of eminent professional
men, leaders In civic life, professors,
! Judges, women connected with some
OF our finest and oldest New England
! families. Their motives in attending
the trial seem as impossible of com.
prehension by the men whose names
are signed TO this report as were
the early efforts Of the suffragists
to obtain the vote,
Old Suffrage Point
THE statement that the women
| who participated in this enterprise
should understand that in Connec-
ticut Interference Of this kind will
not be permitted in our courts
sounds just like the old arguments
against suffrage.
! But fortunate women, those who
have been blessed with the devotion
of fine men as fathers and husbands
have grown to feel that their less
happv sisters are their special charg"
II they are brought before the bar
charged with breaking the law, snail
we let men prosecute them. men
Judge them, and q male jury pass
on their conduct, sheiks and male
| LAWYERS crowd the courtroom, and
no respectable woman to be present?
No, gentlemen of the committee,
good women no longer pass the other
way.
Aid the Fallen
They leave comfortable homes
ease and pleasure to study the lives
of their fallen sisters and to follow
them even into the discomfort and
fatigue Of courtroom, there to sec
how the case Is conducted 10 let the
unfortunate woman know that other
women wish to comfort her If she
has been wrongly accused and TO
try and lead her to better ideal
of life II she has done wrong.
"Our visits Ito the courtroom
are spoken of (by the committee)
in this way: The scheme originated
in his (Mr. Koletsky's) mind. Mr..
Koletsky must be considerably old
er than he looks as the scheme
dates from the earliest days OF
woman's interesting social problems
land with me personally from about
1852,
But the gentlemen Of the COM
lmittee do pay us &c compliment
out of all who gathered IN the court
room. we are singled out as those
who controlled the jury by thei'
mere presence. AS soon as either
Of Orange, Milford, Southbury. sees
us In the court room, no evidence
lcounts. no charge of the jury. I have
been told that the committee askeC
different jurors If they were 1ntn
enced by my presence. 1t Is pit!
to spoil the high compliment they
paid me by adding the humiliatlnf
fact that most, if not all, of the lur!
had not even known that such per
son existed.