Feuillant politician and advocate of judicial reform
A magistrate and National Assembly deputy, Duport promoted jury trial and criminal-justice reform. He formed the “triumvirate” with Barnave and Lameth and helped organize the Feuillants in 1791. After the monarchy fell in 1792 he went into exile and died in Switzerland.
Revolutionary choices and political context
Duport transferred knowledge gained as a magistrate of the old regime into advocacy of jury trial and criminal-justice reform. Revolution concerned not only abolishing privilege but also who would judge and by what procedure people could be punished. His triumvirate with Barnave and Lameth combined institutional reform with a bid for leadership in the Assembly.
The Feuillant turn of 1791 reflected fear of the Revolution’s pace and popular mobilisation. He went into exile after the fall of monarchy and, unlike some Feuillants, was not executed; yet the constitutional order his reforms anticipated did not survive. His career shows how revolutionaries who spoke of legality and liberty could divide sharply over social conflict and the monarchy.