Murder, Gender and Punishment

Submitted by el cid on Sun, 2010-02-14 14:57

Article here. Traci Housman appears to be likely to get a light sentence or even just probation for the killing of her husband, John. What I found interesting in this article are these comments by her defense attorney, who basically admits the bias in the system. Excerpt:

'Traci Housman originally was charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of John Housman, and a conviction could have sent her to prison for between 10 to 32 years in prison. Criminally negligent homicide, which is a lesser offense that comes with a sentencing range between one and three years in prison, requires that a person failed to perceive the risk of their actions.

Housman's public defender Matthew Connell said he plans to ask for a probation sentence because Housman was "defending herself."
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According to police, Housman stabbed her husband once in the chest with a kitchen knife during an altercation in their 2994 23rd St. home early on Aug. 2. Housman told investigators that they had been drinking on the Pearl Street Mall earlier in the night and ended up at a nearby sushi restaurant, where John Housman started telling people, "I'm gay," according to a police report.
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Denver defense attorney Scott Robinson said that more often than not a person who commits a criminal act that causes someone else to die ends up in prison. However, he said, because this is a domestic violence case and because Housman has been in the Boulder County Jail since August, she could have a shot at a probation sentence.

Traci Housman told detectives that her husband had told her years ago that he was bisexual, and she had no problem with it. But, according to police, she told him that night "that it was disrespectful for him to announce this to everyone since they were married."
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"The fact that there was a single blow certainly supports this being self-defense," Robinson said, adding that women in cases like this statistically receive less severe sentences than men. "Gender issues certainly play a part in the sentencing of domestic violence cases."'

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Comments

Don't know what's worst, the actual crime or the fact that these lawyers admit to the injustice brought about by their bias.

Men, the disposable sex.
Women, the what-else-can-we-do-to-make-your-life-even-better-than-deserved sex.

MAJ

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Submitted by digital_dreamer on Sun, 2010-02-14 23:18

With the exception of a very few, like New York City's Roy Den Hollander, most lawyers are AWOL when it comes to defending men's rights. You would think with so many male lawyers, they would at least take on some pro bono cases, even if the defendants don't have any money... no such luck. That this sentencing discrimination is so blatant, and so widely accepted, and so widely ignored, that points to a certain situation reminiscent of slavery. That we men do not have large war chests full of cash to support pro-male lawyers in their efforts to confront this and other types of discrimination, that means that we men also believe we are only slaves. It's about time that men started writing the National Coalition For Men (NCFM), and other organizations that defend men's rights, into their wills.

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Submitted by redwoodwriter on Mon, 2010-02-15 02:19