Ohio University Press, 2006 Cloth: 978-0-8214-1693-8 | Paper: 978-0-8214-1694-5 | eISBN: 978-0-8214-4208-1 Library of Congress Classification HV8699.U5S76 2006 Dewey Decimal Classification 364.6608209771
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
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 eleven women sentenced to death in Ohio in the current death penalty era (1973–2005). 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.
REVIEWS
“(Streib) finds a process fraught with bias, arbitrariness, caprice, and mistakes that make it less likely that women will be subject to the death penalty.... Highly recommended.”—CHOICE
“A thoroughly researched and disquieting book that provides us with vivid snapshots of the few luckless and until now forgotten women who have broken into the typically all-male death penalty club in Ohio.... (H)is portrayals have national significance.... Their stories will haunt those who read them.”—Criminal Justice magazine
“Streib provides a unique opportunity to reflect on the application of the death penalty to women over time. His richly detailed presentation sharpens the abiding question of the relationship between gender and the death penalty.”—Phyllis L. Crocker, professor of law, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments 000
Introduction 001
Part I: A Context of Sex Bias
Chapter 1. Capital Crimes 000
Chapter 2. The Death Penalty for Women Nationally 000
Part II: The Evolution of Ohio's Death Penalty
Chapter 3. Earliest Ohio Death Penalty Statutes 000
Chapter 4. The Modern Death Penalty Era in Ohio 000
Chapter 5. Patterns of Death Sentencing and Executions 000
Part III: Women Executed in Ohio, 1803-2005
Chapter 6. Hester Foster: Executed on February 9, 1844 000
Chapter 7. Anna Marie Hahn: Executed on December 7, 1938 000
Chapter 8. Dovie Blanche Dean: Executed on January 15, 1954 000
Chapter 9 Betty Butler: Executed on June 12, 1954 000
Part IV: Women Sentenced to Death in Ohio, 1973-2005
Chapter 10. Sandra Lockett: Sentenced in 1975, Reversed in 1978 000
Chapter 11. Alberta Osborne: Sentenced in 1975, Reversed in 1978 000
Chapter 12. Patricia Wernert: Sentenced in 1976, Reversed in 1978 000
Chapter 13. Benita Smith: Sentenced in 1977, Reversed in 1978 000
Chapter 14. Sharon Faye Young: Sentenced in 1983, Reversed in 1986 000
Chapter 15. Rosalie Grant: Sentenced in 1983, Commuted in 1991 000
Chapter 16. Debra Brown: Sentenced in 1985, Commuted in 1991 000
Chapter 17. Elizabeth Green: Sentenced in 1988, Commuted in 1991 000
Chapter 18. Beatrice Lampkin: Sentenced in 1989, Commuted in 1991 000
Chapter 19. Donna Roberts: Sentenced in 2003, Now on Death Row 000
Chapter 20. Nicole Ann Diar: Sentenced in 2005, Now on Death Row 000
Part V: Comparing and Contrasting Cases
Chapter 21. Executed Women, 1803-2005 000
Chapter 22. Death-Sentenced Women, 1973-2005 000
Conclusion 000
Appendix 000
Notes 000
Bibliography 000
Index 000
Ohio University Press, 2006 Cloth: 978-0-8214-1693-8 Paper: 978-0-8214-1694-5 eISBN: 978-0-8214-4208-1
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 eleven women sentenced to death in Ohio in the current death penalty era (1973–2005). 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.
REVIEWS
“(Streib) finds a process fraught with bias, arbitrariness, caprice, and mistakes that make it less likely that women will be subject to the death penalty.... Highly recommended.”—CHOICE
“A thoroughly researched and disquieting book that provides us with vivid snapshots of the few luckless and until now forgotten women who have broken into the typically all-male death penalty club in Ohio.... (H)is portrayals have national significance.... Their stories will haunt those who read them.”—Criminal Justice magazine
“Streib provides a unique opportunity to reflect on the application of the death penalty to women over time. His richly detailed presentation sharpens the abiding question of the relationship between gender and the death penalty.”—Phyllis L. Crocker, professor of law, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments 000
Introduction 001
Part I: A Context of Sex Bias
Chapter 1. Capital Crimes 000
Chapter 2. The Death Penalty for Women Nationally 000
Part II: The Evolution of Ohio's Death Penalty
Chapter 3. Earliest Ohio Death Penalty Statutes 000
Chapter 4. The Modern Death Penalty Era in Ohio 000
Chapter 5. Patterns of Death Sentencing and Executions 000
Part III: Women Executed in Ohio, 1803-2005
Chapter 6. Hester Foster: Executed on February 9, 1844 000
Chapter 7. Anna Marie Hahn: Executed on December 7, 1938 000
Chapter 8. Dovie Blanche Dean: Executed on January 15, 1954 000
Chapter 9 Betty Butler: Executed on June 12, 1954 000
Part IV: Women Sentenced to Death in Ohio, 1973-2005
Chapter 10. Sandra Lockett: Sentenced in 1975, Reversed in 1978 000
Chapter 11. Alberta Osborne: Sentenced in 1975, Reversed in 1978 000
Chapter 12. Patricia Wernert: Sentenced in 1976, Reversed in 1978 000
Chapter 13. Benita Smith: Sentenced in 1977, Reversed in 1978 000
Chapter 14. Sharon Faye Young: Sentenced in 1983, Reversed in 1986 000
Chapter 15. Rosalie Grant: Sentenced in 1983, Commuted in 1991 000
Chapter 16. Debra Brown: Sentenced in 1985, Commuted in 1991 000
Chapter 17. Elizabeth Green: Sentenced in 1988, Commuted in 1991 000
Chapter 18. Beatrice Lampkin: Sentenced in 1989, Commuted in 1991 000
Chapter 19. Donna Roberts: Sentenced in 2003, Now on Death Row 000
Chapter 20. Nicole Ann Diar: Sentenced in 2005, Now on Death Row 000
Part V: Comparing and Contrasting Cases
Chapter 21. Executed Women, 1803-2005 000
Chapter 22. Death-Sentenced Women, 1973-2005 000
Conclusion 000
Appendix 000
Notes 000
Bibliography 000
Index 000
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC