Synopses & Reviews
Using a historical framework, this book offers not only the penal history of the death penalty in the states that have given women the death penalty, but it also retells the stories of the women who have been executed and those currently awaiting their fate on death row.
This work takes a historical look at women and the death penalty in the United States from 1900 to 1998. It gives the reader a look at the penal codes in the various states regarding the death penalty and the personal stories of women who have been executed or who are currently on death row. As Americans continue to debate the enforcement of the death penalty, the issues of race and gender as they relate to the death penalty are also debated. This book offers a unique perspective to a recurring sociopolitical issue.
Review
[P]oignant and vital ... this work demands that we give due attention to a group of women long overlooked by criminologists and historians, and about which we continue to know very little: women sentenced to death. O'Shea provides a good compendium of women on death row and a useful starting point for scholars working on capital punishment history.Journal of American Studies
Review
The study of women's experiences is described in such detail that it provides readers with an understanding of the circumstances surrounding either their deaths or, for those currently on death row, the decisions for the death penalty.Journal of Criminal Justice
Synopsis
Using a historical framework, this book offers not only the penal history of the death penalty in the states that have given women the death penalty, but it also retells the stories of the women who have been executed and those currently awaiting their fate on death row.
Synopsis
Offers not only the penal history of the death penalty in the states that have sentenced women to death, but it also tells the stories of the women who have been executed, or are currently awaiting their faith on death row.
About the Author
KATHLEEN A. O'SHEA is a social worker who does criminal justice research on female prisoners with a focus on women and the death penalty.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
History and Execution of Women
Alabama: Electrocution
Arizona: Gas/Lethal Injection
Arkansas: Electrocution/Lethal Injection
California: Gas/Lethal Injection
Connecticut: Lethal Injection
Delaware: Lethal Injection/Hanging
Federal Jurisdiction
Florida: Electrocution
Georgia: Electrocution
Idaho: Lethal Injection/Firing Squad
Illinois: Lethal Injection
Indiana: Lethal Injection
Kentucky: Electrocution
Louisiana: Lethal Injection
Maryland: Gas/Lethal Injection
Massachussetts: No Death Penalty
Mississippi: Gas/Lethal Injection
Missouri: Lethal Injection
Nevada: Lethal Injection
New Jersey: Lethal Injection
New York: Lethal Injection
North Carolina: Gas/Lethal Injection
Ohio: Gas/Lethal Injection
Oklahoma: Lethal Injection
Pennsylvania: Lethal Injection
South Carolina: Lethal Injection/Electrocution
Tennessee: Electrocution
Texas: Lethal Injection
Virginia: Lethal Injection
Vermont: No Death Penalty
Appendixes
Bibliography
Index