DEATH PENALTY

Texas to Execute First Woman in 8 Years

Only 1% of America's executions involve female inmates

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Jan 30, 2013 by Mary Noble

Senior Editor t

Image: CBS

A Texas inmate who faced a lethal injection has had her execution delayed by a judge and moved to April 3.

Kimberly McCarthy, 51, will be the first woman to be executed in America since 2009, and the first in 8 years in the state of Texas.

Since the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to restart in in 1976, only 12 women have been executed, compared to 1,309 men, NBC reports. Women account for less than 1% of all executions in America, but they make up 10% of all homicide convictions.

McCarthy was given a death sentence for beating, stabbing, and robbing a 71-year-old female neighbor in 1997. She was also connected to two earlier murders that were similarly violent.

Her execution was delayed after her lawyers argued that her death sentence was improperly based on her race, since it was determined by a jury of whom 11 were white.

Via NBC News. H/T Politix user JesseJaymes.

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?	Should women be given special treatment when it comes to the death penalty?

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No, of course not

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Yes, they should

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Jan '13

Angry_man

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Good grief. Didn't we take care of this in the sixties? Jury duty is just the luck of the draw what the heck does it matter if eleven were white? The one black or Hispanic agreed.
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Jan '13

910disaster

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The race of the jury matters. It is supposed to be a jury of your peers. A majority white jury is not just, due to the fact that racism still exist. YES, RACISM STILL EXIST. Just look at topix.
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Post @910disaster
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Jan '13

Angry_man

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@910disaster A jury of your PEERS not a jury of your race.
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Jan '13

NTBFW

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@910disaster you just gave us a great example of racism.
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Post @NTBFW
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Jan '13

Buckfan4life2

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@910disaster This monster should have died years ago. And what makes you think she would have got a fair trial if all were black. Guarantee she would have been free today if that were the case. The majority of blacks cheered OJs Not Guilty charge with overwhelming evidence.
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Post @Buckfan4life2
Jan '13

ACTSmom

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@910disaster ...Yes, racism still exists. If all had been black, she'd probably be walking the streets a la OJ - until another crime was committed. Wonder what the family of the stabbing victim thinks...
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Post @ACTSmom
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Jan '13

kathyparsell

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The death sentence is only a deterant when it is executed. Women who kill with heinous disregard for life or humanity deserve the same punishment as men who do the same.
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Jan '13

stepped_in_it

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Well, heck, that doesn't sound very equal. With my experiences of ex-wives and ex-GF's, women can be .....vicious! I'm all for equality. Now, if we can just get them to open our doors, pick up the check and send us flowers, we'd be on to something!
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o
Jan '13

thatgirl

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Oy vey.
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Post @thatgirl
Jan '13

TheJimmy

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It would be best policy to perform executions within 24 hours of sentencing. Would save both time and money while also decreasing the surplus population.
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Jan '13

lawnmowrman

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There's a first time for everything. Most of your posts are offensive. I agree with you on this one wholeheartedly. Persons sentenced to death should be given a day to say goodbye to family members followed by execution.
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Post @lawnmowrman
Jan '13

russ

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This is the era of equality....it sounds as though she has earned the opportunity to exercise those rights.
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Jan '13

ACTSmom

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She doesn't deserve another opportunity. Why did her lawyers agree to the jury during the selection phase? This woman is pure evil.
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Post @ACTSmom
Jan '13

russ

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@ACTSmom I apologize for my ambiguity, I meant she's earned the right to be executed like her male counterparts.
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Post @russ
Jan '13

NormalFlora

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When you read what this MONSTER was convicted of, I say he'll yes execute her!!! She is completely unsalvagable.
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Jan '13

NormalFlora

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It was a grisly scene Lancaster police found on July 22, 1997: Dorothy Booth, a 71-year-old retired psychology professor, stabbed to death on the floor of her dining room stabbed, her left ring finger severed from her hand.

The evidence quickly led police to Kimberly McCarthy, Booth's next-door neighbor. McCarthy, police said, had taken Booth's ring to sell for crack. Immediately after the killing, she drove Booth's white Mercedes station wagon to a drug house, handed over the keys to one of the occupants and told him, according to a Morning News story, "I need some crack bad, give me a bump or something." During her trial, a police officer testified that McCarthy promised to confess to the murder if he would give her crack.
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Jan '13

stepped_in_it

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And with all this talk of crack, the "woman" should never have saw the next crack of dawn....why, oh why do we waste 20+ years on filth like this?
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Post @stepped_in_it
Jan '13

texas_cutie75

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@stepped_in_it

Because there are people in this world that feel predators deserve a second chance. I feel if you victimize the young or the elderly, your punishment should be as severe a possible, but that's just a country girl talking.
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Post @texas_cutie75
Jan '13

stepped_in_it

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@texas_cutie75 keep talking country girl....I'll listen!
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Post @stepped_in_it
Jan '13

texas_cutie75

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@stepped_in_it

Don't encourage me too much... I got a lot to say...lol!!
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Post @texas_cutie75
Jan '13

texas_cutie75

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There are commandments, she broke 3 of 'em.....you shall not murder, you shall not steal, and you shall not covet. Now before y'all start hollering about Christianity, the commandments are just good guidelines to live by.
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Post @texas_cutie75
Jan '13

MarkJM

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If you do the crime, you should get the punishment that fits the crime. In "Big Bertha's" case here, her heinous criminal acts clearly warrant a death sentence. I don't care if you're Black, White, Latino, Male, Female, Gay, Straight, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc. etc. etc. If you commit and are convicted beyond a reasonable doubt a heinous criminal act that warrants the death penalty, then you should be made to face that death penalty.
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o
Jan '13

WattheTyler

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Texas is really a disgusting Nazi state.
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Jan '13

stepped_in_it

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And you'd prefer this woman to be.....your next door neighbor?
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Post @stepped_in_it
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Jan '13

WattheTyler

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@stepped_in_it No she should be in jail for the rest of her life. However giving the state the RIGHT to KILL someone is FASCISM and promotes the culture of death. Look at the countries that perform the death penalty: North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, Somalia, Syria, Belarus, etc.
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Post @WattheTyler
Jan '13

stepped_in_it

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@WattheTyler "North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, Somalia, Syria, Belarus, etc" These are all fascist states....thought Saudi was a kingdom? My bad!
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Post @stepped_in_it
u
Jan '13

TexasMule

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No it's not, I have the rights and freedoms as my fellow U.S. citizens. Hmmm, let me restate that. I have more rights and freedoms than many of my fellow U.S. citizens!
This woman's attornies should have been more steadfast in their choices of jurists.
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Post @TexasMule
Jan '13

Tralee

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I read in the WSJ that she got a halt to the execution so her attorney can pursue a claim that the all white jury was purposefully picked because she is a Black woman. Anyhow, she now has until Apr. 3.
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u
Jan '13

RobertJHarsh

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What I find amazing is the media busts its a$$ to get the guy or girl convicted but then when they are on death row, they bust a$$ to get them off!
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Jan '13

masaro1

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women should not be executed at all! after all they are not strong as men are! i think they should just be given a harsh sentence but kept alive! i will never strike my mother!
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Jan '13

SomethinsFishy

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What has GENDER got to do with anything. Women USUALLY get LIGHTER SENTENCING than men. From that LaBabe LaFave case in Florida where someone said she was "too pretty to go to jail" on down! Hey, there's a song in there somewhere: "Too weak to fight; to big to fail; too darned pretty to go to jail" Makes a nice refrain, doesn't it? lol.
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Jan '13

Jeff_Woehrle

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I wonder if NOW will speak up on this issue and advocate smoking the chick. Equal rights, after all...
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Jan '13

AngryHillbilly

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This isn't about sexism, thus the question/poll is not a good representation of the included article.

However, it is about RACISM. Racism is dead on a small scale. However, it is alive and well on a large scale, only with blacks in this country.

This article really sheds some light on the issue:

http://www.spitterbox.com/forum/thread/31/big...
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Jan '13

No_Bama

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What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
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u
Jan '13

CommonSense

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No.
We shouldn't use it in the first place. No "justice" is worth the injustice of executing an innocent person.
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Jan '13

SavageMazx

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While I agree with that statement, when the evidence is incontrovertible get it over with. I think an independent court should review the cases of current death row inmates, if there is question about the conviction, hold off, if there isn't, mix the cocktail and send em off for the bug sleep. Like the Sweetheart Killer and the Speed Freak Killer.
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Post @SavageMazx
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Jan '13

CommonSense

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@SavageMazx
The problem with that is the inherent fallibility of human judgment. If you make a rule where the "evidence is incontrovertible" there will eventually be a case where the court wrongfully determines the "evidence is incontrovertible".
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Post @CommonSense
Jan '13

SavageMazx

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They should televise executions.
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o
Jan '13

Sabio

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you wanted equal rights? well here ya go!!!!!!!!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA
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o
Jan '13

bigblock

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Hopefully someone will do her hair before she assumes room temperature.
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Politix

Should women be given special treatment when it comes to the death penalty?

Should women be given special treatment when it comes to the death penalty?