All arguments against the death penalty appear doubly applicable to women so convicted; those already victimized by their circumstances and relationships are further victimized by a justice system that is supposed to help them, while the guilty are allowed to continue with their crimes, freed by the skill of high-priced lawyers.
According to Dreyfuss (2003), women convicted of murder specifically face issues such as prosecutors who ignore mitigating circumstances, self-defence, abuse, and mental illness in seeking the death penalty. These are issues that further contribute to the injustice of the death penalty for women, particularly in states such as Texas, and particularly in cases where women are innocent like Jacobs or mentally ill like Yates.
IV. CONCLUSION
Women face a wide variety of integrated problems when faced with any sort of conviction, and particularly the death penalty. These issues are generally a result of circumstances beyond the control of these women, who are then further victimized by a justice system that does not know how to handle, or indeed care, about their needs.
The...
Indeed, Scott (2002) notes that the
treatment of these people are not even on the same level as treating animals. The justice system contributes to this by the attitude of its
employees towards convicts, the poor, and particularly to women. It appears that guilt rather than innocence is presumed. The horror of
crimes such as those committed by Yates also often blinds the
public to the mitigating circumstances behind these crimes.
The treatment of women serves as a poignant and practical argument against the death penalty as a whole. It not only perpetuates violence; it also perpetuates the victimization of
minorities and the poor.
Sources
ACLU (2002). ACLU Applauds Jury Decision to Spare Andrea Yates' Life. http://www.aclu.org/capital/women/10342prs20020315.html
Dow David & Dow, Mark. (2002). Machinery of Death. Routledge.
Dreyfuss, Claudia. (2003). Women on Death Row in Texas. Ms. Magazine, Spring. http://www.deathrow-usa.us/womenTX.html
Freedberg, Sydney P. (1999, Jul 4). Sonia Jacobs: "I had nothing... The world I left no longer existed." St. Petersburg Times. http://www.truthinjustice.org/soniajacobs.htm
Scott, Jeannine (2002, Feb). Andrea Yates Needs Treatment, Not a Death Sentence. The New Abolitionist, Iss. 23. http://www.nodeathpenalty.org/newab023/yates.html
