Battered Women's Justice: The Movement for Clemency and the Politics of Self-defense

In December 1990 Ohio governor Richard F. Celeste granted clemency to 25 women who had been incarcerated for killing or assaulting abusive partners or stepfathers. Governors in other states quickly followed. This book documents the history of the feminist and social activist groups working within the context of the battered women's movement and the role they playing in making these events possible. The book examines the Ohio movement as a precedent-setting case study, then discusses and analyzes events in six other states where large-scale clemencies were achieved or attempted. Before clemency became a movement goal, feminist legal activists worked for two decades to challenge laws that they argued prevented women from fully defending themselves when accused of killing abusive men. One focus was to ensure that the women who killed could describe the danger with which they had lived and explain the basis of their belief that force was needed to defend their lives. Within a few years, some activists began to frame their legal defense strategies within the language of the battered woman syndrome, a strategy that remains controversial. The book analyses the strategies and achievements of the movement for clemency review, identifying the factors that led to success or failure. The last chapter looks at the post-prison lives of some of the 25 Ohio women who received clemency.