Gender equality in Madera

For The Madera Tribune

Judge Conley practiced gender equality in Madera’s Court.

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William Conley was Madera County’s first judge. He was elected to that position in 1893, and over the next few decades, a steady stream of law-breakers paraded in front of him, including murderers, embezzlers, extortionists, and robbers. In 1916, however, he was faced with one of the most perplexing cases ever brought before his court, and by the time the dust had settled, Conley found himself squarely on the side of a female, years before it became fashionable to champion women’s rights.

Women could not vote in federal elections in 1916, and the state’s community property laws were still being debated. Madera was no different from the rest of the state or the nation; therefore, it came as no surprise when the sheriff came to take Dora Belle Anderson into custody simply because her husband said that she was insane.

H.P. Anderson didn’t have to provide much proof of his wife’s insanity. His word was enough to have her incarcerated. The husband filed a petition to have his wife committed to the state insane asylum, and on March 30, 1916, she was brought over from the jail to face her husband in Judge Conley’s courtroom. In addition to the charge of insanity, she was being accused of being irresponsible and dangerous to herself and others, especially her children.