State v. Palendrano

State v. Palendrano
Court	New Jersey Superior Court
Full case name	State of New Jersey v. Marion Palendrano, Defendant.
Decided	July 13, 1972 (1972-07-13)
Citation	293 A.2d 747; 120 N.J. Super. 336
Case opinions
Decision by	McGann
Keywords
Sexism Vagueness doctrine Women's rights

State v. Palendrano, 120 N.J. Super. 336, 293 A.2d 747 (Law Div. 1972), was a legal case decided by the New Jersey Superior Court, Law Division, holding that the common law offense of being a common scold was no longer a crime despite the presence of reception statutes in the state.

Background

In 1970, Marion Palendrano was indicted in Monmouth County for assault, threatening a person's life, and being a scold.

Decision

The court reasoned that the offense was superseded by the New Jersey Disorderly Persons Act.[1] They also expressed concerns that a female-only crime violated due process and the nature of the offense was too vague. It was also opined that the punishment of ducking could amount to a corpor(e)al punishment, in which case that punishment was unlawful under the New Jersey Constitution of 1844 or since 1776.

See also

• Commonwealth v. Donoghue, an earlier Kentucky case which upheld common law offenses in that state.

References

1. Dressler, J. Understanding Criminal Law, Fifth Edition. Matthew Bender & Company, Inc. Newark, NJ: 2009, p. 28

External links

• Works related to State v. Palendrano at Wikisource
• Full text opinion from Google Scholar