rights. All restrictions upon human liberty, all claims for special privileges, are to be regarded as having the presumption of law against them, and as standing upon their defense, and can be sustained, if at all by valid legislation, only by the clear expression or clear implication of the law." This decision had the effect of holding that the laws of equal protection applied to women because he in effect rejected the "entire jurisprudence of separate spheres." It has been said that this decision as "[o]ne of the greatest decisions in all of Connecticut jurisprudence." Later years During her legal career, Hall mostly confined herself to office work, assisting Hooker in preparing the Connecticut Reports and handling wills and property matters for women. Hall rarely appeared in court because "public sentiment would be much against a woman's speaking in court." In addition to her legal work, Hall became increasingly involved in suffrage and social reform activities. In March 1885, Hall helped to found the Hartford Woman Suffrage Club and served as its Vice President. She also attended the International Council of Women to celebrate the first Woman's Rights Convention, where the International Woman's Bar Association was founded. Hall was then elected Assistant Secretary at the Connecticut Woman's Suffrage Association convention. In 1895, Hall became a member of the State Board of Charities and was responsible for investigating and regulating the charitable institutions through the state. She also testified before the State Judiciary Committee in 1905 against a bill that would prohibit girls from selling newspapers. Mary Hall is remembered as a pioneer in the legal profession and a suffragist and reformist in Connecticut because of her dedication to the cause of women and of the welfare of underprivileged children. Endnotes External links 1843 births 1927 deaths 19th-century American women lawyers American suffragists People from Marlborough, Connecticut 19th-century American lawyers