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Public Health Chronicles PUBLIC RESPONSES TO INTIMATE …
Tags: armed robbery, battered woman, criminal justice system, criminal trials, early 1900s, family members, future child, glance, homicide, intimate violence, jd, late 1800s, martha, public health, public response, public responses, ramsey, serial murders, syndrome defense, violent crimes,Pages: 4
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Created: Tue May 30 14:55:36 2006
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Public Health Chronicles
PUBLIC RESPONSES TO INTIMATE publicresponsestointimateviolencewereinadequate,
VIOLENCE: A GLANCE AT THE PAST newlydiscoveredhistoricaldataindicatesthatfeminist
criminal-lawresearchers,suchasmyself,mustreexam-
inetheunderpinningsofourtheories.
CarolynB.Ramsey,MA,JD Recentresearchalsounearthsthepre-historyofthe
"battered woman's syndrome defense."3 In modern
In2004,aCaliforniajurysentencedScottPetersonto criminal trials, battered woman's syndrome evidence
death for killing his wife and future child.1 Peterson bolstersthecredibilityofwomenwhokilltheirbatter-
isananomalyondeathrow,whichismostlyoccupied ersbyexplainingthat"learnedhelplessness"prevents
by men who committed serial murders, killed law- suchwomenfromleavingabusiverelationshipsbefore
enforcement officers, or caused death during other they escalate to homicide.15 Another interpretation,
violent crimes, such as armed robbery.2 Yet, the out- favored by Martha Mahoney and others, depicts the
comeofhiscaserecallsanineteenth-centurytradition femaledefendant'splightinlesspathologicaltermsas
of executing men for murdering their lovers, wives, partofanongoingstruggleforpowerandcontrol.16
or other family members.3 Although no adequate Both modern approaches suggest that, when assess-
public response to the problem of intimate violence ingtheculpabilityofabatteredwomanwhokills,the
was achieved in the past, the criminal justice system jury should be allowed to take her history of abuse
sufferedfromdifferentflawsandbiasesinthisregard intoaccount.Noformalbatteredwoman'ssyndrome
thanonemightexpect. defense existed in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
However,juriesandcourtsimplicitlyrecognizedone
andevenextendedittowomenwhokilledtoavenge
A REVISIONIST VIEW
infidelityorabandonment.3Indeed,thepaternalistic
Lackofattentiontonon-lethalintimateviolencemay understanding of social relations that was prevalent
have been "the normal state of affairs" throughout in the Victorian era tended to equate physical and
most of American history.4 Prior to the 1980s, only emotionalmaltreatmentofwomen.
the colonial era (especially 1640 to 1680) and the Theharshattitudeofjurorsandotherlegalactors
lateVictorianera(especially1870to1890)witnessed toward men who perpetrated intimate murders, and
sustainedeffortstocurbwife-beatingand"unnatural thecorrespondingsympathyforabusedwomen,har-
severity" toward children.4 However, scholars have monized with a wide array of late Victorian cultural
overstated the level of public apathy toward men's forms.Judicialopinions,familyconductmanuals,and
homicidalaggressionagainstwomen.Leadingcriminal thepublicmessagesofpoliticalleaderslikeTheodore
lawcasebooks,5numerouslawreviewarticles,6,7,8,9and Roosevelt, who denounced wife-beating, associated
booksbyinfluentialAmericanlegalscholarsandhisto- manlinesswithprotectionofthefemalesex.3Ofcourse,
rians10,11,12,13,14repeattheerroneousclaimthat,inthe paternalisticeffortstostopmaleabuseofwomendid
past,thelegaldoctrinesofself-defenseandprovocation notgouncontested.Yet,theineptitudeofthestatein
endorsedmen'sbrutality,whereaswomenwereseverely curbingsuchabusewasattributabletothedeficiency
punishedforperpetratingintimateviolence. andcorruptionofearlypolicing,aswellastocultural
Infact,theconversewastrue.Dataculledfromdusty conflictovertheroleofviolenceinfamilygovernment.
criminalcasefilesinNewYorkandColoradodemon- Itwasnottheproductofahegemonicgenderideology
strate that, in both the eastern and western United tolerantofextremeviolenceagainstwomen.3
States, men accused of killing their intimates often
receivedsternpunishment,whilewomenchargedwith
LENIENT TREATMENT OF ABUSED WOMEN
similarcrimesweretreatedwithleniency.3Moreover,
WHO COMMITTED INTIMATE HOMICIDE
the capital punishment of men who murdered their
lovers, spouses, orother familymembersconstituted Throughout history, men have committed homicide
a higher percentage of total executions in the late more often than women have.17 But women some-
nineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturiesthantoday.3 times killed their intimates, and when they did, two
Thus, despite widespread scholarly agreement that outcomeswereprevalent:acquittalorconvictionfora
460 PublicHealthReports / JulyAugust2006 / Volume121
PublicHealthChronicles 461
lessseriousoffensethanmurder.3Juriesseemtohave SEVERE PUNISHMENT OF MEN
basedacquittalseitherontheinsanitydefenseoron WHO KILLED THEIR INTIMATES
aself-defensetheorythatlookedtopastabuse,rather
than simply focusing on the specific incident during Theoutcomesformenchargedwithintimatehomicide
whichthehomicideoccurred. inthelate1800sandearly1900sdifferedsubstantially
Self-defense theories often succeeded when the fromthoseforfemaledefendants.3,17Atcriminallaw,
homicidevictimwasanadultman.InNewYorkin1891, theheat-of-passiondoctrineofferedthemostpromis-
forexample,EllaNelsonwasexculpatedforkillingher ingdefensestrategyforamanwhokilledhisunfaith-
philanderingloverwhenhethreatenedherwithapis- ful wife. The idea behind this doctrine was that the
tol.3AjuryinthesamecityexoneratedMariaBarbieri deceased'soutrageousconductcausedthedefendant
athersecondtrialafteranappellatecourtruledthat tolosecontrolofhisemotionsandflyintoahomicidal
evidenceofherseduction,rape,andabandonmentby fury.Asuccessfulheat-of-passionclaimledtoaconvic-
thedeceasedwererelevanttounderstandingwhyshe tionformanslaughter,ratherthanmurder.However,
slashedhisthroatinasaloon.3Morethanathousand whilemanyfeministscholarshavedisparagedtheheat-
milesaway,aColoradojuryacquittedadomesticservant of-passiondoctrineforpunishingintimatekillingsless
who fatally shot her abusive employer--a man with harshly than a lethal attack by a stranger,6,7,9,12,18 data
whomshealsohadasexualrelationship.3 from the west and the northeast show that neither
Bycontrast,theidealofthenurturingmothermade judges nor all-male juries in those regions felt much
insanityclaimstheonlyroutetoacquittalforwomen empathyformenchargedwithkillingtheirwives.3
whointentionallykilledtheirchildren.Forinstance,in Underthecommonlaw,theheat-of-passiondefense
1890,NewYorkerWilhelmineLebkuchnerwasfound was limited to five forms of provocation: extreme
notguiltybyreasonofinsanityaftershekilledhersmall assault or battery on the defendant; mutual combat;
sons by putting rat poison in their tea. Lebkuchner illegalarrestofthedefendant;injuryorseriousabuse
resumedworkasalaundressfollowingheracquittal, ofacloserelative;andsuddendiscoveryofaspouse's
ratherthanbeinginstitutionalized.3 adultery.19Adefendantwasineligibleforheat-of-pas-
Thedegreeofmoraldenunciationdirectedatthe sion mitigation if he merely suspected infidelity, but
menwhoallegedlydrovethesefemaledefendantsto hadnotactuallycaughthiswifeinthesexact,20orif
killconstitutesthemostremarkableaspectofthecases. enough time elapsed between the provocation and
Evenchild-murderersoftencontendedthattheyhad the homicide for his emotions to cool.21 As I have
beenrenderedinsanebymaltreatmentatthehandsof demonstratedinanotherpaper,"TrialjudgesinColo-
ahusbandormalerelative.Forinstance,Lebkuchner radoandNewYorkoftenrefusedtoinstruct[juries]
allegedthatherbrother-in-lawdisownedherafterher onprovocationbecausetheevidenceshowedcooling
husband's death, leaving her destitute and terrified timeorotherfactorsprecludingthedefenseasamat-
thatshewouldlosecustodyofherchildren.3Atleast ter of law."3 Such convictions were typically affirmed
until1920,whenfemalesgainedaconstitutionalright onappeal.3
tovote,theidealman"remainedprotectiveofwomen Somestatesabandonedboththecommon-lawprovo-
anddisplayedreverencefortheirpresumptivelygreater cationcategoriesandthecooling-timerestrictioninthe
moralpurity."3Amanwhobeat,raped,orabandoneda latetwentiethcentury.22Bycontrast,courtsandjuries
womanfailedinhisdutytoprotecttheso-calledweaker inthe1800sandearly1900sreturnedcapitalverdicts
sex; his actions thus justified or at least excused the for "male defendants who claimed that simmering
woman'shomicidalresponse. jealousy,anger,orfearledthemtocommithomicide."3
Female defendants who defied gender norms by Scholarsthereforemustavoidthehastyassumptionthat
drinkingorengaginginillicitsexcouldexpectharsher themoderncriminaljusticesystempunishesintimate
verdictsthanthosewhoplayedmoretraditionalroles. killersmorerigorouslythanitdidinthepast.
However,whenjuriesfoundsuchdeviantwomenguilty The relative severity of outcomes for men in the
ofanycriminalhomicide,theytypicallyconvictedthem late Victorian and Progressive eras stemmed from
of milder, non-capital offenses.3 Female defendants' social values that associated manliness with sobriety,
testimonyaboutbeingbrutallyabusedbytheiralleged industry,andself-restraint,aswellaswithprotectiveness
victims counterbalanced their violation of Victorian toward women. The norms underpinning the stern
prescriptions for proper feminine behavior. Juries treatmentofmaledefendantswerenot,inanysense,
thus spared them from long prison sentences or the feminist. However, they were gender-biased in a way
deathpenalty. thatbenefitedwomen.Indeed,"verdictsexonerating
PublicHealthReports / JulyAugust2006 / Volume121
462 PublicHealthChronicles
womenduetotheirvictims'pastviolenceorromantic mate murders committed by American men during
inconstancy contrasted with the lack of empathy for the late Victorian and Progressive eras, the picture
similarstorieswhenamanwasontrial."3Jurieseven that emerges from historical study is not a pretty or
convicted men of first-degree murder in the face of comfortingone.Thesystemtoooftenpunishedmen
insanityclaims,whichoftenledtotheexculpationof for killing, but not for inflicting non-lethal violence.
femaledefendants.3 Menwhodiedonthegallowsorintheelectricchair
camedisproportionatelyfromthelower-classandnon-
white population.3 Moreover, even the willingness of
THE FAILURE TO PREVENT INTIMATE
courtsandjurorstoconsiderpast-abuseevidencewhen
VIOLENCE FROM OCCURRING
female defendants stood trial for intimate murder
Datashowingthedisparityinoutcomesformaleand stemmed from paternalistic attitudes about women's
female murder defendants do not explain "why the supposedweakness.
public criminal justice system in the late nineteenth Inthefinalanalysis,thebestthatcanbesaidisthat
andearlytwentiethcenturiespunishedintimatemur- thelackofaneffectivepolicyagainstintimateviolence
ders[committedbymen],butfailedtopreventthem inthelatenineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturiesdid
fromoccurring.Theproblemofintimateviolencewas notarisefromamaleconspiracyagainstwomen.Such
allowedtofesteruntilitproducedautopsies,coroner's aconclusioncorrectsoverstatementsinthescholarly
inquisitions,andmurdertrials,inadditiontobruises literaturebutdoesnotexoneratethecriminaljustice
and broken bones."3 While several scholars describe system,thenornow,forfailingtoremedythecrisisof
thereluctanceofbothprivatesocietiesandthestate uncheckedviolenceinintimaterelationships.
tointerveneonabusedwomen'sbehalf,4,23thereasons
forsuchreluctancearenotwellunderstood. CarolynB.RamseyisanAssociateProfessorofLawattheUniver-
sityofColoradoLawSchool.ProfessorRamseywritesonhistorical
Several alternate explanations besides sexism may
andmodernaspectsofcriminallaw,criminalprocedure,and
be possible. First, at the end of the nineteenth cen- genderissues.Shereceivedalawdegreeandamaster'sdegreein
tury,policeforcesincitieslikeNewYorkandDenver historyfromStanfordUniversity.
were understaffed and controlled by the political Asubstantialamountofthematerialpresentedhereisdrawn
machine.24,25Ihavearguedelsewherethat"thedecline directlyfromProf.Ramsey'sarticle,"IntimateHomicide:Gender
andCrimeControl,18801920"(UnivColoLRev2006;77:101-
ofneighborlyandfamilyinterventionagainstintimate
91)withthepermissionoftheUniversityofColoradoLawReview
violencethrusttheproblemonapoliceforcethatwas editorialboard.Readerswithaninterestinintimateviolence,
toocorruptandbrutaltohandleiteffectively."3Second, genderissues,ortheprosecutionandpunishmentofhomicide
the unwillingness of terrified victims to report abuse shouldconsultthefullversionintheUniversityofColoradoLaw
hamperedthearrestandprosecutionofbatterers,just Review.
as it does today. This underreporting stemmed both
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