Teresa Lewis was executed last night for the double murder of her husband and stepson for the insurance money. Kathy Lohr has this preexecution story at NPR, with a link to the audio.
Frank Green and Zachary Reid have this postexecution story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "Outside the prison, about a dozen people stood in protest. They were outnumbered by about three dozen members of the media, including reporters from Great Britain and Italy." When the media outnumber the protesters 3-1, you know there has been a big PR scam running.
Lewis's lawyer is quoted as saying, "Tonight the machinery of death in Virginia extinguished the childlike and loving spirit of Teresa Lewis."
Oh, really? "Childlike and loving," huh? Here is the description of the crime:
But of course 60 is a very small number relative to the total. Women just don't commit the kinds of murders that land a person on death row very often. "Legal scholars attribute the 'gender bias' in executions to women's lower propensity to kill and the tendency of those who do to kill a husband, lover or child in the heat of emotion, seldom with the 'aggravating factors' states require for a death sentence."
The use of the word "bias" in this sentence is a reminder that "bias" in the mathematical sense does not equal invidious discrimination, which is the secondary meaning of the word "bias." Two groups may have very different sentencing rates for the completely legitimate reason that they offend at different rates and with different degrees of culpability.
Frank Green and Zachary Reid have this postexecution story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "Outside the prison, about a dozen people stood in protest. They were outnumbered by about three dozen members of the media, including reporters from Great Britain and Italy." When the media outnumber the protesters 3-1, you know there has been a big PR scam running.
Lewis's lawyer is quoted as saying, "Tonight the machinery of death in Virginia extinguished the childlike and loving spirit of Teresa Lewis."
Oh, really? "Childlike and loving," huh? Here is the description of the crime:
Lewis was sentenced to death in 2003 for the Oct. 30, 2002, murder-for-hire slayings of her husband and stepson. Using sex and promises of money, she persuaded two men to kill for her in a failed effort to gain $250,000 in life insurance.
Julian Lewis, 51, and C.J. Lewis, 25, were hit with multiple shotgun blasts in their beds while Teresa Lewis stood by in the kitchen of the family trailer early that morning. As her husband was dying, she took his wallet, split the money inside it with the gunmen, and then waited 45 minutes to call for help.In the L.A. Times, Carol Williams writes that the execution "could also psychologically clear the way to carrying out death sentences on others among the 60 condemned women in the nation -- including 18 in California, according to some capital punishment observers."
But of course 60 is a very small number relative to the total. Women just don't commit the kinds of murders that land a person on death row very often. "Legal scholars attribute the 'gender bias' in executions to women's lower propensity to kill and the tendency of those who do to kill a husband, lover or child in the heat of emotion, seldom with the 'aggravating factors' states require for a death sentence."
The use of the word "bias" in this sentence is a reminder that "bias" in the mathematical sense does not equal invidious discrimination, which is the secondary meaning of the word "bias." Two groups may have very different sentencing rates for the completely legitimate reason that they offend at different rates and with different degrees of culpability.
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