Young woman imprisoned for murder - is the sentence harsh?

[mids2019]

I was reading this case of the very rare occurrence of a woman killing a man. The murder occurred using a car as a weapon essentially and though the sentence fits guidelines for this crime are you in effect removing the woman's right to hear children in her lifetime (or making it a lot more difficult)? Is the socially enforced infertility a by product of the sentence that is quite just or does this discriminate against women in that a man may not suffer in huge the same way (because of extended fertility).

I suppose the law is the law but is the removal of the right to seek a family ever taken into account with sentencing?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-68180241

I think it's a really interesting perspective OP. Often sex differences are something that are taken into account and corrected for in society, but not in the case of sentencing. It's a valid point to raise.

Ultimately if you are guilty of taking another life, you lose your liberty and everything that goes along with that. For many that means the opportunity to parent their living children, that obviously affects both sexes. For this woman it is the opportunity to physically bear children and that does affect her in a way it wouldn't if she were male.

I think it's a really interesting thing to think about. My heart goes out to her victim and his family though. What a devastating waste.

I’m in Canada and women’s jails are vastly different to men’s anyway.
So comparing a female jail sentence to a male one is comparing apples to oranges.
women commit crimes generally for vastly different reason than men. Usually drugs and abusive relationships.

Same treatment needed. Having children is not a right

OP I think it's an interesting and valid point to discuss.
As most women serve short sentences, reproductive rights are not often considered.

Below is an article which looks into it , quite interesting.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6987912/#:~:text=Given%20that%20most%20incarcerated%20women,that%20is%20unique%20to%20incarcerated

She's a very intelligent woman, who knew exactly what she was doing

This raging hothead ran the car at him three times, hit him twice and then turned on the girly waterworks

She has vital screws loose and the fact she's unlikely to breed is a good thing

Yes it is a right, you may not agree with it but it is a right

No, because nobody has the 'right ' to family life. It's a choice and a privilege.

She has committed a murder

Nothing else is relevant

Try thinking of the victim and his family not the murderer

No her sentence is not harsh.
Her fertility is irrelevant
She is a murderer.

The OP makes possibly the worst point ever made on this site. Remarkable achievement for so early on a Saturday morning. Good troll post though yeah.

We can agree to differ as we have done. With rights come responsibilites. She lost her right

There is no right to a family life - it is the right to respect for your family and private life, which is an entirely different thing.

This question feels so uncomfortable to me as it places such emphasis on women’s fertility as a measure for how justice should be applied. Fertility should not be a shield against justice.

Is an infertile woman less deserving of freedom?

What about a murderer who doesn’t want children?

What about a man given a whole life sentence?

We can’t base sentencing on hypothetical children a woman might choose to have one day in the future.

OP, what are you wittering on about. She committed murder and obviously so.

Right to have a child, really🙄

Interesting.

But for this to be a valid point, you have to look at motive for the murder. Was she influenced by someone else? How old/ mature was she at the time of committing the crime?

In her case, I think the sentence is fair, she knew what she was doing and has to live with the consequences.

Imprisonment takes away freedom, that includes family life.

What, like put every female murderer through fertility testing to check she could have kids anyway, and have a psychologist analyse her to see if she would actually want children? Would obviously have to ensure women aren't pulling the "but I want to be a mummy" card to get out of prison.

But no, I love a thought experiment but this one doesn't even last 2 minutes.

Murder is murder and there are consequences if you do it not concessions. You lose your rights until (or if) you are released otherwise what is the point.

What an absurd argument. Anybody who commits a crime bad enough to require imprisonment loses their freedom and everything that comes with that loss of freedom, including the right to parenthood within the time frame of their sentence.

I can't help but feel that you are looking for a way to let women off lighter by suggesting they lose more in this process. That there is a legal loophole to get them shorter sentences. If so, why do you feel women deserve a lesser severe punishment than men?

less*

I mean it really does sound exactly like you're trying to minimise the crime... She's a murderer. I think it's great if she'll never have the chance to be a shit mum and ruin a child's life as well.

personally i dont think murderers should be having children so no the sentence isnt harsh

@mids2019 The intention of the sentence surely is to remove liberty not enforced non parenthood.

This evil woman ran over a man three times and killed him in a horrific way... And you're more concerned that this murderer will never have children? She took away the victim's chances of becoming a parent (by murdering him) so it's only fair that she never becomes a parent.

Perhaps when she murdered the very young man she should have considered that as a risk for herself bearing in mind that the penalty for murder is a mandatory life sentence

If her temper is such that it caused her to drive at someone she loved, with intent to cause great harm, her capability to raise a child is questionable, is it not?

This must be one of the most ridiculous posts I have ever read on MN.
Those who commit heinous crimes forfeit the right to the freedoms that innocent people enjoy
" the right to a family life"
Jesus fucking christ