In mid-19th century Kentucky, medical experts began challenging the authority of judges to make rulings regarding sanity in inheritance cases.
"These medical experts presented an increasing challenge to the authority of communal and legal knowledge about insanity during inheritance disputes," said history professor Yvonne Pitts, presenting her studies on the subject during the Ides of August at Wabash.
"These medical experts saw themselves as the appropriate judges of fairness, morality, and just property disposition, superceding the authors of wills and judges," Professor Pitts explained. "Judges sought to protect their authority as the arbiters of sanity against influence from medical experts’ increasing visibility and prestige."
Pitts' research explores the dialogues between jurists, medical experts and local community members during this era.