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The Accused Wife Beater Whipped By A Judge With A Garden Hose Before He Had A Trial

In 1927, a man who was a habitual drunk was beaten by the judge, who was also his long-time friend, because he believed he had assaulted his wife

Andrew Martin
4 min readDec 31, 2023

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Domestic violence is a societal scourge that sadly frequently rears its ugly head. Those who are guilty of battering a spouse or partner are deserving of facing severe punishment for their crime. In the 1920s, an Akron, Ohio man was accused of public drunkenness and assaulting his wife, leading to the judge presiding over his case to visit him in his jail cell prior to the trial and administering a spanking with a length of garden hose.

It was reported that in early 1927, 41-year-old bricklayer John Caves was arrested on charges of drunkenness. It seems that this was not the first time he was accused of such crimes, but there was also a belief that he had also just assaulted his wife.

Judge E.E. Zesiger presided over Caves’ hearing, but took very unusual steps to try and correct the defendant’s behavior with his own hands. Before the trial was underway, he visited the accused in his city jail cell and bent the grown man over his knee and administered a strong spanking with a length of rubber garden hose he had…

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Andrew Martin
Andrew Martin

Written by Andrew Martin

Dabbler in soccer, history, investing & writing. Master’s degree in baseball history. Passionate about history, diversity, culture, sports, film and investing .

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