I almost posted this yesterday, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. It’s such a horrible story, and it really does beg the question of what prosecutors are hoping to achieve by charging and convicting women who have been battered in these cases. It’s an issue that I’ve thought about a lot in connection with the case of Dixie Shanahan, an Iowa woman who suffered the type of abuse that Maldonado did, and is serving at least 10 years (commuted down from 25 to life) in prison for killing her abuser. Shouldn’t prosecutorial discretion reflect the mores of the community in some way? What possible good is served by jailing this woman and her son?
I almost posted this yesterday, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. It’s such a horrible story, and it really does beg the question of what prosecutors are hoping to achieve by charging and convicting women who have been battered in these cases. It’s an issue that I’ve thought about a lot in connection with the case of Dixie Shanahan, an Iowa woman who suffered the type of abuse that Maldonado did, and is serving at least 10 years (commuted down from 25 to life) in prison for killing her abuser. Shouldn’t prosecutorial discretion reflect the mores of the community in some way? What possible good is served by jailing this woman and her son?
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