Book Review: Kirsh, S. (2006). Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence: A Critical Look at the Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. 409 pp

• Author: Ottis Murray
• Published date: 01 June 2009
• Date: 01 June 2009
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016808325717
• Subject Matter: Articles

288 Criminal Justice Review
circumstances. Early childhood molestation, history of abuse by her spouse, brain damage,
or the lack of cognitive or volitional development may each be so defined by the jury as to
appear to be aggravating rather than mitigating circumstances. This, combined with the
abysmal failure of many of the defense attorneys to present any evidence in the penalty
phases of the trials, ensured that each of the 11 women would receive the death penalty.
Recent changes in the law and in court rulings have made it more difficult for financially
limited women to contest the process and outcomes of their trials. For example, court–
appointed defense attorneys do not appeal on the grounds that they themselves provided their
clients with incompetent counsel during their capital trials. Furthermore, appeals must be made
and new evidence must be presented in a timely manner, or the appeals courts will not act.
Finally, Governor George W. Bush set the precedent for gubernatorial commutation deci-
sions when he explained that he must treat Karla Faye Tucker just as he would a man because
formal equality demanded it. Other governors in states across the American South followed
Bush’s decision and logic for those women convicted of capital crimes. Therefore, now on
the one hand, the courts convict on evidence heavily weighted by gender stereotypes but, on
the other hand, when the actual decision is made to go on with the executions of women,
administrators opt for formal equality between the sexes to guide their decisions. Thus, herein
lies the conundrum: The wretched sisters are judicially condemned as a result of gender
inequality, whereas they are administratively damned by sexual equality.
Wretched Sisters is a valuable contribution to the justice literature. The author has pro-
vided an instructive and interesting overview of feminist theory and research findings, a
tightly-packed but complete summary of Supreme Court and federal district...