Law and Gender Commons^™

Victim Gender And The Death Penalty, Caisa Elizabeth Royer, Amelia Courtney Hritz, Valerie P. Hans, Theodore Eisenberg, Martin T. Wells, John H. Blume, Sheri Lynn Johnson

Sheri Lynn Johnson

Previous research suggests that cases involving female victims are more likely to result in death sentences. The current study examines possible reasons for this relationship using capital punishment data from the state of Delaware. Death was sought much more for murders of either male or female white victims compared to murders of black male victims. Analyzing capital sentencing hearings in Delaware from 1977-2007 decided by judges or juries, we found that both characteristics of the victims and characteristics of the murders differentiated male and female victim cases. The presence of sexual victimization, the method of killing, the relationship between the …

The Arrest Experiments: A Feminist Critique, Cynthia Grant Bowman

Cynthia Grant Bowman

No abstract provided.

Wife Murder In Chicago: 1910-1930, Cynthia Grant Bowman, Ben Altman

Cynthia Grant Bowman

No abstract provided.

Praxis And Pedagogy: Domestic Violence, Cynthia Grant Bowman, Eden Kusmiersky

Cynthia Grant Bowman

No abstract provided.

Victim Gender And The Death Penalty, Caisa Royer, Amelia Hritz, Valerie Hans, Theodore Eisenberg, Martin Wells, John Blume, Sheri Lynn Johnson

John H. Blume

Previous research suggests that cases involving female victims are more likely to result in death sentences. The current study examines possible reasons for this relationship using capital punishment data from the state of Delaware. Death was sought much more for murders of either male or female white victims compared to murders of black male victims. Analyzing capital sentencing hearings in Delaware from 1977-2007 decided by judges or juries, we found that both characteristics of the victims and characteristics of the murders differentiated male and female victim cases. The presence of sexual victimization, the method of killing, the relationship between the …

Loyalty's Reward — A Felony Conviction: Recent Prosecutions Of High-Status Female Offenders, Michelle S. Jacobs

Michelle S Jacobs

Between 2001 and 2004, six high-status women were charged with crimes in connection with corporate criminal cases. The public is familiar with some of them, although not all of their cases have been covered equally in the press. With the exception of an occasional article now and then mentioning the exploding rates of female incarceration, women's crime tends to be invisible to the public eye. The statistical data the government collects and analyzes on women and crime will be discussed. This article will focus on the prosecution of the individual cases of Lea Fastow, Betty Vinson, and Martha Stewart. Their …

Piercing The Prison Uniform Of Invisibility For Black Female Inmates, Michelle S. Jacobs

Michelle S Jacobs

In Inner Lives: Voices of African American Women In Prison, Professor Paula Johnson has written about the most invisible of incarcerated women — incarcerated African American women. The number of women incarcerated in the United States increased by seventy-five percent between 1986 and 1991. Of these women, a disproportionate number are black women. The percentages vary by region and by the nature of institution (county jail, state prison or federal facility), but the bottom line remains the same. In every instance, black women are incarcerated at rates disproportionate to their percentage in the general population. In Inner Lives, Professor Johnson …

Widening Our Lens: Incorporating Essential Perspectives In The Fight Against Human Trafficking, Jonathan Todres

Jonathan Todres

In 2000, the international community formally launched the modern movement to combat human trafficking with the United Nations' adoption of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (Trafficking Protocol). With the Trafficking Protocol, the international community created a new cornerstone upon which to build a global initiative to combat this modem form of slavery. As the first major international treaty on human trafficking in half a century, the Trafficking Protocol represented a significant step forward. One hundred forty-seven countries are now party to the …

Punitive Injunctions, Nirej S. Sekhon

Nirej Sekhon

No abstract provided.

Response To Commentators, Michelle Dempsey

Michelle Madden Dempsey

This short essay responds to commentators who generously contributed to Criminal Law & Philosophy’s symposium on my book, PROSECUTING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (Oxford University Press 2009)

Victimology Of Interpersonal Violence: A Comprehensive Outlook Of Legislative Policies In India, Sukdeo Ingale

Sukdeo Ingale

Victimology is future of criminology. Hence, in contemporary era, every crime needs to be relooked through the ‘injured eyes’ of victim. Against this backdrop, this study investigates a largely unexplored area in victimology i.e. the victimization of men in interpersonal violence. The main object of the study is to evaluate the existence of men victimization by misuse of different laws and to describe and analyze how misuse of different laws by women and systematic bias against men increased probability of men victimization. After extensive literature review, the author found that the rate of men victimization throughout glob is increasing day …

The Punishment Of Dixie Shanahan: Is There Justice For Battered Women Who Kill?, Leigh Goodmark

Leigh S. Goodmark

No abstract provided.

A Troubled Marriage: Domestic Violence And The Legal System, Leigh Goodmark

Leigh S. Goodmark

The development of a legal regime to combat domestic violence in the United States has been lauded as one of the feminist movement’s greatest triumphs. But, Leigh Goodmark argues, the resulting system is deeply flawed in ways that prevent it from assisting many women subjected to abuse. The current legal response to domestic violence is excessively focused on physical violence; this narrow definition of abuse fails to provide protection from behaviors that are profoundly damaging, including psychological, economic, and reproductive abuse. The system uses mandatory policies that deny women subjected to abuse autonomy and agency, substituting the state’s priorities for …

Illegal Traffic In Women: A Civil Rico Proposal, Lan Cao

Lan Cao

No abstract provided.

A Provocative Defense, Aya Gruber

Aya Gruber

It is common wisdom that the provocation defense is, quite simply, sexist. For decades, there has been a trenchant feminist critique that the doctrine reflects and reinforces masculine norms of violence and shelters brutal domestic killers. The critique is so prominent that it appears alongside the doctrine itself in leading criminal law casebooks. The feminist critique of provocation embodies several claims about provocation's problematically gendered nature, including that the defense is steeped in chauvinist history, treats culpable sexist killers too leniently, discriminates against women, and expresses bad messages. This article offers a (likely provocative) defense of the provocation doctrine. While …

Beyond Paroline: Ensuring Meaningful Remedies For Child Pornography Victims At Home And Abroad, W. Warren H. Binford

W. Warren H. Binford

This article considers how the United States could fulfill its international treaty obligations to support the full restoration of child pornography victims in the aftermath of the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Paroline v. United States. The article details how the United States provided leadership historically in creating a skeletal legal framework domestically and internationally to help combat child pornography and restore victims, and highlights how that framework is failing victims on a near-universal basis in an age dominated by technological innovation and globalization. The article proposes the adoption and implementation of effective domestic and international …

Decriminalizing Victims Of Sex Trafficking, Michelle Madden Dempsey

Michelle Madden Dempsey

Despite the United States’ commitment to decriminalizing victims of sex trafficking and the obvious injustice of subjecting these victims to criminal penalties, the majority of jurisdictions throughout the U.S. continue to treat sex trafficking victims as criminals. This paper argues that the criminal law must abandon this practice. Part one presents a brief account of definitional and conceptual debates regarding what counts as sex trafficking. Part two explains why we must decriminalize victims of sex trafficking. Part three outlines four methods of decriminalizing sex trafficking victims, and defends what has come to be known as the “Nordic model” as the …

Where Has Their Innocence Gone? Addressing Child Sex Tourism, Cheryl George Professor

Cheryl Page

No abstract provided.

U.S. Institutionalized Torture With Impunity: Examining Rape And Sexual Abuse In Custody Through The Icty Jurisprudence, Allison Rogne

Allison Rogne

It is a well-established principle, both domestically and internationally, that rape is torture when suffered as part of confinement. It is also well documented, both domestically and internationally, that rape is rampant in U.S. prisons. And it is well established, both domestically and internationally, that those who torture should not do so with impunity, that that impunity is an affront to civilization and the human rights principles to which we all strive. And yet, in U.S. prisons, shocking numbers of women are systematically raped and sexually abused by those that would rehabilitate them. Female prisoners are victims of vaginal and …

Justice For Girls: Are We Making Progress?, Francine Sherman

Francine T. Sherman

Social expectations that girls behave obediently, modestly, and cautiously result in the detention and incarceration of girls who fight back at home or in intimate relationships and who are victims of sexual exploitation. The structural discrimination that supports detaining and incarcerating girls for violating these norms is both hard to see and hard to challenge. It is often hidden behind outward good will toward girls and legitimate expressions of concern for their vulnerability and possible victimization; and it is facilitated by the many opportunities for multifactored, "best interests" -based discretionary decisions built into the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. …

The Issue Is Being Intersex: The Current Standard Of Care Is A Result Of Ignorance, And It Is Amazing What A Little Analysis Can Conclude., Marla J. Ferguson

marla j ferguson

The Constitution was written to protect and empower all citizens of the United States, including those who are born with Disorders of Sex Development. The medical community, as a whole, is not equipped with the knowledge required to adequately diagnose or treat intersex babies. Intersex simply means that the baby is born with both male and female genitalia. The current method that doctors follow is to choose a sex to assign the baby, and preform irreversible surgery on them without informed consent. Ultimately the intersex babies are mutilated and robbed of many of their fundamental rights; most notably, the right …

Women At The Forefront: An Examination Of The Disproportionate Exposure Of Mothers To Liability Under Parental Responsibility Laws, Portia Allen-Kyle

Portia Allen-Kyle

This Note discusses the social and legislative affinity for parental responsibility laws in response to juvenile delinquency and victimization and examines the discriminatory impact of such laws on mothers. This Note argues two-fold that: 1) the mere existence of parental responsibility statutes perpetuates “mother blaming” and disproportionately exposes mothers to liability and are thus discriminatory in their effect, and 2) the use of vicarious, strict liability for parents is ineffective and inappropriate in affecting juvenile behavior. Section I provides a discussion about the history of parental responsibility laws and argue the symbolic purpose of many parental responsibility laws. Section II …

Peacemaking & Provocation: A Response To Professor Tracey Jean Boisseau, Dan Subotnik

Dan Subotnik

No abstract provided.

Law Reform On Sexual And Gender-Based Crimes In Mass Violence, Saumya Uma

Dr. Saumya Uma

Inequality's Frontiers, Melissa Murray

Melissa Murray

No abstract provided.

Perspectives On Crimes Of Sexual Violence In International Law.Pdf, Susana L. Sacouto

Susana L. SáCouto

Meeting The Challenges Faced By Girls In The Juvenile Justice System: Testimony Before The Healthy Families And Communities Subcommittee Of The U.S. House Of Representatives Education And Labor Committee, Francine T. Sherman

Francine T. Sherman

Testimony by Francine T. Sherman, Clinical Professor and Director, Juvenile Rights Advocacy Project at Boston College Law School before the Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee, on March 11, 2010, at 10:00 AM. More information about the hearing, including an archived webcast, is available at http://edworkforce.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=193429.

Sexual Assault Issues Before The War Crimes Tribunal, Diane Orentlicher

Diane Orentlicher

No abstract provided.

A Case Study On Burying Alive Of Two Women In Balochistan, Sohail Ahmed Ansari Advocate

Sohail Ahmed Ansari Advocate

Violence against women is present in a variety of forms in Pakistan. From domestic abuse & sexual harassment to child marriages and honour killing; a range of anti-women atrocities are carried out. Pakistani women face systematic discrimination from the day they are born. The patriarchal mindset of society refuses to recognize them as human beings deserving of equality, human rights and justice. Unfortunately in some parts of Balochistan a brutal custom of justice prevails; where the women are treated as trading objects. They are being tried without hearing their cause. They are not allowed to plea their case. They are …

Too Rough A Justice: The Ethiopia-Eritrea Claims Commission And Civil Liability For Claims For Rape Under International Law, Ryan S. Lincoln

Ryan S. Lincoln

The developments in international law prohibiting rape during armed conflict have grown at a rapid pace in recent decades. Whereas rape had long been considered an inevitable by-product of armed conflict, evolution in international humanitarian law (IHL) has relegated this conception mostly to the past. The work of international criminal tribunals has been at the forefront of this change, developing the specific elements of the international crime of rape, and helping to change the perception of rape in international law. Violations of IHL, however, also give rise to civil liability. Despite the advances with respect to rape made in the …