The Fairer Death: Executing Women in Ohio

by Streib, Victor L.

• ISBN13: 9780821416945
• ISBN10: 0821416944
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-11-01
• Publisher: Ohio Univ Pr

Summary

Women on death row are such a rarity that, once condemned, they may be ignored and forgotten. Ohio, a typical, middle-of-the-road death penalty state, provides a telling example of this phenomenon. The Fairer Death: Executing Women in Ohio explores Ohio's experience with the death penalty for women and reflects on what this experience reveals about the death penalty for women throughout the nation. Victor Streib's analysis of two centuries of Ohio death penalty legislation and adjudication reveals no obvious exclusion of women or even any recognition of an issue of sex bias. In this respect, Ohio's justice system exemplifies the subtle and insidious nature of this cultural disparity. Professor Streib provides detailed descriptions of the cases of the four women actually executed by Ohio since its founding and of the cases of the ten women sentenced to death in Ohio in the current death penalty era (19732005). Some of these cases had a profound impact on death penalty law, but most were routine and drew little attention. A generation later, reversals and commutations have left only one woman on Ohio's death row. Although Streib focuses specifically on Ohio, the underlying premise is that Ohio is, in many ways, a typical death penalty state. The Fairer Death provides insight into our national experience, provoking questions about the rationale for the death penalty and the many disparities in its administration.

Author Biography

Victor L. Streib is the Ella and Ernest Fisher Professor of Law at Ohio Northern University. His many books and articles include Death Penalty: In a Nutshell, Gendering the Death Penalty, and Death Penalty for Juveniles.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(4)
PART ONE: A CONTEXT OF SEX BIAS
ONE Capital Crimes	5	(5)
TWO The Death Penalty for Women Nationally	10	(11)
PART TWO: THE EVOLUTION OF OHIO'S DEATH PENALTY
THREE Earliest Ohio Death Penalty Statutes	21	(3)
FOUR The Modern Death Penalty Era in Ohio	24	(4)
FIVE Patterns of Death Sentencing and Executions	28	(7)
PART THREE: WOMEN EXECUTED IN OHIO, 1803-2005
SIX Hester Foster
Executed on February 9, 1844	35	(2)
SEVEN Anna Marie Hahn
Executed on December 7, 1938	37	(13)
EIGHT Dovie Blanche Dean
Executed on January 15, 1954	50	(8)
NINE Betty Butler
Executed on June 12, 1954	58	(5)
PART FOUR: WOMEN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN OHIO, 1973-2005
TEN Sandra Lockett
Sentenced in 1975, Reversed in 1978	63	(4)
ELEVEN Alberta Osborne
Sentenced in 1975, Reversed in 1978	67	(4)
TWELVE Patricia Wernert
Sentenced in 1976 Reversed in 1978	71	(15)
THIRTEEN Benita Smith
Sentenced in 1977, Reversed in 1978	86	(5)
FOURTEEN Sharon Faye Young
Sentenced in 1983, Reversed in 1986	91	(4)
FIFTEEN Rosalie Grant
Sentenced in 1983, Commuted in 1991	95	(6)
SIXTEEN Debra Brown
Sentenced in 1985, Commuted in 1991	101	(4)
SEVENTEEN Elizabeth Green
Sentenced in 1988, Commuted in 1991	105	(4)
EIGHTEEN Beatrice Lampkin
Sentenced in 1989, Commuted in 1991	109	(3)
NINETEEN Donna Roberts
Sentenced in 2003, Now on Death Row	112	(6)
TWENTY Nicole Ann Diar
Sentenced in 2005, Now on Death Row	118
PART FIVE: COMPARING AND CONTRASTING CASES
TWENTY-ONE Executed Women, 1803-2005	125	(4)
TWENTY-TWO Death-Sentenced Women, 1973-2005	129	(3)
Conclusion	132	(3)
Appendix	135	(10)
Notes	145	(34)
Bibliography	179	(16)
Index	195