New domestic violence law gives convicted murderer a shot at freedom

Article here. Excerpt:

'According to SB0209, the mitigating factor can be that "at the time of the offense, the defendant is or had been the victim of domestic violence and the effects of the domestic violence tended to excuse or justify the defendant's criminal conduct."

Lillian Cartwright, training and court-watch project manager for the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women's Network, told me this nonprofit, which oversees all other domestic violence providers, helped get this law passed because 77 percent of incarcerated women are victims of abuse and are dramatically underserved when it comes to addressing this issue.

Aiardo's case is one of the first, if not the first, to take advantage of the new law, Cartwright said, and it speaks to the larger issue of "assisting these victims who live at the margin of society, including those who are incarcerated."'