Does intimacy provide leniency from the law? A study of Ohio criminal homicide cases involving different victim-offender relationships.

摘要

In 1997, the United States murder rate dropped to its lowest level in over thirty years (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1999). Between 1976 and 1997, the rates for intimate homicide also declined. The rate has fallen among Black female victims by 46%, Black males by 77%, White males by 55% and White females by 14% (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1999). Noticeably, the rate for White women has not been declining as dramatically as others, and for women killed by boyfriends, the rate has experienced a significant increase (Puzone et al., 2000, p.419). In the United States, the costs of intimate homicide, combined with intimate partner rape, physical assault, and stalking exceed {dollar}5.8 billion each year (Center for Disease Control, 2003).; No study to date has examined how individuals who commit intimate homicide are charged, indicted, convicted and sentenced as compared to other types of nonintimate homicides. This dissertation assesses how the criminal justice system adjudicated a sample of homicide cases from charging to sentencing stages to ascertain whether a disparity existed between intimate homicides and otherwise comparable homicides committed in non-intimate relationships. For purposes of this study, "intimates" includes those victims and offenders who are married (by law or commonlaw), divorced, separated, boyfriend/girlfriend, ex-boyfriend/girlfriend, or gay and lesbian domestic partners.; Black's The Behavior of Law provides the theoretical framework for this study, specifically that the more intimate the relationship between an offender and victim, the less law is applied to the case. Findings support Black's theory in part. There are statistically significant associations between the charges levied at arrest, indictment and conviction and the relationship between the parties. However, the most lenient treatment is directed at homicides committed between family members, not intimate partners. After qualitative and quantitative analysis, this result seems driven by a combination of the facts of the cases and the required intent required by the statutes governing whether homicides will be criminally charged and the level of seriousness. This study raises important policy questions regarding whether certain types of homicides are treated more leniently under the law and whether this discrepancy is warranted.