Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons^™

Using "A Jury Of Her Peers" To Teach About The Connection Between Domestic Violence And Animal Abuse, Caroline Forell

Caroline A Forell

In this essay I examine Susan Glaspell’s short story, A Jury of Her Peers, in the context of teaching about the connection between domestic violence and animal abuse in an Animal Law course. I discuss how Glaspell’s story, in which the motive for a woman killing her husband is his killing of her pet bird, enables students to better understand the perspective of battered women who behave in certain ways because they have pets. I pose several questions concerning how the law would and should respond when a battered woman reacts with violence to the killing or serious injury of …