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Gender bias and the application of the death penalty

By Douglas A. Berman

As detailed in this local article, headlined "Tennessee moves closer to executing first woman: Sixth Circuit denies appeal to woman convicted in murder for hire of husband," a new federal habeas ruling in a state capital case provides an effective opportunity to reflect on gender bias in the application of the death penalty.  Let's start with the basics of the new ruling and the underlying crime: The first woman ever to be sentenced to death in Tennessee is a step closer to the death chamber today after the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied her habeas petition in a 2-1 decision. Nashville based Judge Gil Merritt filed the dissenting opinion. Gaile K. Owens was convicted in Shelby County in 1986 of accessory before the fact in the 1985 murder of her husband, Ronald Owens...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on December 10, 2008 (boomark / email).