Gender inequality in the death penalty

The death penalty in today’s society is seen as a proper way of punishing individuals who commit capital crimes. This has been a controversial subject for a long time as different people feel and hold different beliefs towards the subject. Those who have lost their loved ones through murder suffer greatly and are usually of the opinion that the death penalty provides them justice as an even type of closure, the best type of revenge, and a righteous punishment. However, others believe that capital punishment is an ineffective, expensive, and a time consuming process that is morally wrong (Williams and Jefferson 367). After reading Dead Man Walking, I believe the death penalty is a major cause of death for innocent people as it is an immoral punishment and ultimately results in the mistrust of the legal system. This being a wide topic, I would argue that there is gender inequality in the death penalty.

The relationship between crime and gender is paradoxical, persistent, and deep. Society recognizes gender as an important factor that plays a critical role in the criminal justice system when dealing with various crimes. Certainly, men and women are considered to differ in the crime patterns and the offence rates as well as the victimization experiences (Williams and Jefferson, p. 365). Males are considered to commit disproportionate rates of crimes, a belief that has a significant effect on how society and the law respond to various crimes (Prejean, p. 37). Most importantly, the idea that men are primarily responsible for committing more crimes than women has had -a great effect on the justice system and it has influenced the criminal justice policies and criminological thinking. Due to the effect of gender expectations and roles, there arises gender inequality in the death penalty and is thus an immoral system of punishment.

Significantly, gender roles affect the way society and law respond to violence and various crimes. It is, therefore, noteworthy that gender plays a critical role in influencing how the criminal justice system deals and responds to different crimes. Although it is a common argument that the law is just and without differentiation between women and men, criminology studies show that the offenders’ social characteristics such as gender are likely to influence the decisions made in the criminal justice system (Prejean, p. 37). Considerably, the criminal justice system treats women with leniency than men. The likelihood of women offenders to be arrested, jailed, or convicted is also less compared to men. In this regard, societal views about gender affect the way the criminal justice system responds to violent crimes and death penalty thus causing gender inequality in capital punishment.

It is beyond doubt that the response to serious crimes is significantly influenced and affected by social characteristics of the victims and the defendant. Most importantly, the defendant’s and the victim’s gender in a violence-related case influences the decision of the court. Certainly, the law and the legal system help to keep the way of life in society organized and in control. This means that the legal system is subject to the expectations of the society as it is a product of the same society (Prejean, p. 37). Due to the difference in gender roles and expectations between males and females, some crimes are expected to be committed by men more than women and vice versa. On the other hand, committing a crime that one is less expected to commit attracts undue harsher treatment. For instance, a woman killing her child is less expected and hence attracts harsher treatment from society. Although this is not based on the law, the evidence brought against the offender in the court is likely to influence the judgment such as a death penalty which is a manifestation of gender inequality in sentencing.

On the other hand, capital punishment and the existence of the death penalty are highly influenced by the political culture. The political culture of a state plays a significant role in determining why and how the state adopts capital punishment which means that the death penalty and political culture are strongly related. This also means that the political culture affects the frequency of death penalty sentences and who it affects (Phillips, p. 815). I personally believe that states embrace the death penalty to maintain social order rather than to deter crime. Mostly, maintaining the social order involves controlling the minority threat, state priorities, and social disruption. This explains why the death penalty usually affects the minority groups. Mostly, the minority gender in a society is more likely to have many of its members subjected and incarcerated to capital punishment when they commit serious crimes thus showing that there is gender inequality in the death penalty.

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The first response to any crime is the law enforcement officers. The stereotypical attitudes of the police officers towards the offender’s gender affect the way society and the law would respond to crime committed by the culprit. I must point out that from the sentencing patterns and courts practice, women sentencing in the court is usually influenced by the double jeopardy, double deviance, and evil woman thesis (Prejean, p. 37). As aforementioned, the law treats men and women equally. The criminal law, therefore, apply equally to both men and women. However, the influence of gender and sex is as significant as the legal category in relation to the criminal act. Mostly, women are considered to be less violent than men and need protection more. These assumptions play a significant role in attracting the leniency of the criminal justice system towards women for capital punishment, thus showing gender inequality in the capital punishment sentences.

Women are usually seen in the light of a less culpable gender that is less recidivist, and should be treated more leniently. This expounds why most judges and law enforcement officers do not see women defendants as possible threats to society. Conversely, women are seen by the enforcement officers as defendants in need of protection which subsequently affects the sentencing decision (Stauffer, et. al. p. 107). As a matter of fact, most judges are reluctant to send female defendants to prison. This hypothesis is based on the fact that the rate at which women commit violent crimes is less compared to that of men. It is also important to note that most judges are likely to hold orthodox opinions about females and their behaviours (Stauffer, et. al. p. 107). As such, they tend to be friendlier and less harsh with female offenders regardless of the seriousness of their crimes. On the other hand, the male defendants who are accused of committing violent and serious crimes like killing women or other murder-related crimes are likely to be convicted with a death penalty and less likely to get a lenient or reduced charge.

Conclusively, I would contend that the death penalty is an unjust and immoral punishment system that results in the deaths of innocent people and does not deter crime in society. Most importantly, the capital punishment system is marred by gender inequality which is one of the greatest causes of loss of trust in the legal and criminal justice system. Significantly, most judges and law enforcement officers hold orthodox views about females and their behaviors and are likely to show leniency to female defendants. Women are also considered to show less offensive behavior towards the enforcement officers hence getting reduced charges for their serious crimes. Conversely, male offenders are seen by the officers in a cynical light and, therefore, get punitive sentences and their sentences for violent crimes are less likely to be reduced. This means that the criminal justice system which uses the death penalty as a punishment for serious crimes has gender inequality.