eBook - ePub

Proof of Guilt

Name: Proof of Guilt
ISBN: 9781496211309

Barbara Graham and the Politics of Executing Women in America

Kathleen A. Cairns,

238 pages
English
ePUB (mobile friendly)
Available on iOS & Android

eBook - ePub

Proof of Guilt

Barbara Graham and the Politics of Executing Women in America

Kathleen A. Cairns,

About this book

Barbara Graham might have been a diabolical dame in a hard-boiled detective story—beautiful, sexy, and deadly. Charged alongside two male friends in the murder of an elderly widow during a botched robbery attempt, "Bloody Babs" became the third woman executed in California—after a 1953 trial that played out before standing-room-only crowds captured the imaginations of journalists, filmmakers, and death penalty opponents. Why, Kathleen A. Cairns asks, of all the capital cases in the twentieth century, did Graham's have such political resonance and staying power?

Leaving aside the question of guilt or innocence—debated to this day—Cairns examines how Graham's case became a touchstone in the ongoing debate over capital punishment. While prosecutors positioned the accused woman as a femme fatale, the media came to offer a counternarrative for Graham's life highlighting her abusive and lonely beginnings. Cairns shows how Graham's case became crucial to the abolitionists of the time, who used instances of questionable guilt to raise awareness of the arbitrary and capricious nature of death penalty prosecutions. Critical in keeping capital punishment in the forefront of public consciousness until abolitionists homed in on a winning strategy, Graham's case illustrates the power of individual stories to shape wider perceptions and ultimately public policies.

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Yes, you can access Proof of Guilt by Kathleen A. Cairns in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & North American History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.