NCJ Number
104907
Journal
American University Law Review Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1986) Pages: 11-56
Date Published
1986
Length
45 pages
Annotation
Battered women who kill their abusers in perceived self-defense present a special challenge to the criminal justice system, especially when considered in terms of the evolution of the law of self-defense.
Abstract
Although self-defense first appeared in law as an excuse, in the 20th century it has been classified as a justification. Justified conduct is otherwise criminal conduct that under specifiable circumstances does not harm society. However, in most cases, self-defense constitutes self-help, and self-help is inimical to the rule of law. Battered women's cases are illustrative of this conflict. While their status makes use of deadly force subjectively reasonable, often the act is not objectively reasonable. To hold that the battered woman acted in self-defense is to justify her conduct and to justify self-help and may result in encouraging self-help as a preferred solution to domestic abuse. The solution of the dilemma posed by such cases is to return self-defense to its theoretical basis as an excuse. Excuse recognizes that, even though self-help may not be desirable and may harm society, it often results from an individual's understandable inability to choose an alternate course of action due to overwhelming internal or external pressures. This approach to self-defense accommodates the social reality of the battered woman's plight while allowing the factfinder to consider the defendant's subjective belief without risking the possibility that bona fide defensive acts, no matter how objectively unreasonable, will be condoned by the criminal law. 236 footnotes.