Description:
The author argues for the repeal of mandatory minimum sentences based upon their role in the distortion of defences available to battered women on trial for the homicide of their violent mates. After reviewing other legal strategies aimed at eliminating the discriminatory biases facing women who attempt to plead self-defence, and illustrating the ways in which defences to murder are distorted, she turns to the examination of the transcript of a recent murder trial for a woman who argued self-defence. The author uses the transcript to provide concrete illustrations of three ways in which self-defence is distorted by the mandatory life sentence for murder. She considers prosecutorial guidelines as another possible legal strategy, but concludes that nothing short of repeal of the mandatory life sentence can redress the power imbalance between prosecutor and accused and provide battered women with an opportunity to proceed to trial and have their actions recognized as justified by way of self-defenc