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Article: Battered wives, battered justice. (includes related article on campus date rape)
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- February 25, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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BATTERED WIVES, BATTERED JUSTICE
THE RULES of self-defense, so long a settled part of our law, may be changing for "battered" women who have killed their husbands. Some courts, relying on expert-witness testimony from feminist psychologists, have enlarged the defense to allow acquittals in cases which otherwise would have ended in manslaughter or murder convictions. In Ohio, outgoing Governor Richard Celeste commuted the sentences of 25 battered women who had finally attacked their husbands, and other governors are thinking of following suit.
The prosecution of Janice Leidholm is illustrative. Janice was charged with murdering her husband, Chester, in ...