Self-Defense and the Law

From the Louisville Courier-Journal (via Broadsheet):

"Gov. Ernie Fletcher granted clemency, pardons or early parole reviews yesterday to 21 Kentucky women convicted of killing or trying to kill men they say abused them.
Fletcher also said additional pardons will be made today. The women said the legal system failed to take the abuse into account in killings they viewed as self-defense. Some argued they took ill-advised pleas, faced unjust verdicts or had done enough time in prison."

This brings up the question of whether the (undoubtedly awfully-named) “battered woman's syndrome” exists and if so, what its parameters are. “Battered woman’s syndrome” is included in DSM-IV under the Post-Traumatic Stress sub-category. It’s most often used to support criminal defense lawyers as they defend survivors of domestic violence who have killed or attempted to kill their abusive partners. The condition argues that long-time sufferers of physical, mental, sexual and economic abuse endure such severe emotional trauma that they lose the ability to comprehend consequences.*

I’m not a member of the medical community and don’t know how much standing this argument holds within it. I do know that without its classification as a “condition” the history of abuse that precipitates the crime often cannot be introduced at trial. If a history of abuse can be established and brought to a jury’s attention, though, I’m sure that in most cases, it would become apparent that these women are not planning murders or debating consequences, but acting out of desperation and a lack of options. One of the women who received clemency in Kentucky had moved six times to escape a man who for 20 years had hit her in the face with a baseball bat, stabbed her with a knife, beat her kids and choked her until she passed out. Less than a week before she shot him, he had raped her.

It’s recognition of the complete breakdown of any societal structure that should have helped these women before they got to this point that should guide these trials

Yes, there are domestic violence programs out there, and shelters, and yes, for some these are options. But the sad reality is that federal funding for DV-related (as well as other) social service programs has been so severely cut in the last five years, that DV shelters turn away more women than they help. (I work closely with the only DV shelter in Philadelphia and one of my colleagues keeps a running tally of the number of families that are turned away monthly).

But forget for a moment that there are a third more animal shelters in the U.S. than there are DV shelters. Other structural barriers can include language, immigration status, child welfare agencies, unsympathetic police officers or judges, institutions' reluctance to interfere in "domestic issues," general patriarchy….I see I’m tending toward soap-box status, so I’ll stop. My point is that even in best-case scenarios, we’re talking about women who are in constant fear for their lives. Add that the most dangerous time for a woman in an abusive relationship is just after she leaves, and it’s no wonder that many women feel they have no other options. I hope that in the future they do, and I hope that legislators realize the dangers of what happens when they don’t.

In the meantime, I’m grateful for the outgoing governor of Kentucky and what appears to be a good and just call.

*For more info about DV-related self-defense, contact my friends at the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women.