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56 Brook. L. Rev. 1045 (1990-1991)
Victim Characteristics and Equal Protection for the Lives of All: An Alternative Analysis of Booth v. Maryland and South Carolina v. Gathers and a Proposed Standard for the Admission of Victim Characteristics in Sentencing

handle is hein.journals/brklr56 and id is 1055 raw text is: VICTIM CHARACTERISTICS AND EQUAL PROTECTION FOR THE LIVES OF ALL: AN ALTERNATIVE ANALYSIS OF BOOTH v. MARYLAND AND SOUTH CAROLINA v. GATHERS AND A PROPOSED STANDARD FOR THE ADMISSION OF VICTIM CHARACTERISTICS IN SENTENCING INTRODUCTION During a three week period in 1989, three equally brutal crimes occurred in New York City. In the first, a woman was beaten and raped and thrown naked from the roof of a 21-story building. In the second, a woman was found strangled and prob- ably raped, in a park. In the third, a woman was raped and beaten in another park. In each case, the women met different physical fates. The woman who was thrown from the roof grabbed an electrical cable and held on until neighbors rescued her and brought her to a nearby hospital which soon released her. The strangulation victim was dead when the police found her. The other park victim lapsed into a coma, only approaching recovery one year later.' Public treatment of the three was very different. As to the woman who was thrown from the roof, her story initially merited a mere 187 words in the New York Times.2 The Times barely mentioned the case of the woman who was strangled to death.3 However, the case of the woman who wound up in a coma was I The three crimes are described variously in Cose, Rape in the News: Mainly About Whites, N.Y. Times, May 7, 1989, § 4, at 27, col. 1; Roberts, When Crimes Be- come Symbols, N.Y. Times, May 7, 1989, § 4, at 1, col. 4. 1 Woman is Raped and Thrown from a Roof, N.Y. Times, May 4, 1989, at Bl, col 2. Note that the crime was buried in the B section of the newspaper. The New York Times is used here merely to show how one newspaper covered the three stories. Others in the media also devoted far more space and air time to the third victim than the other two. a Roberts, When Crimes Becomes Symbols, N.Y. Times, May 7, 1989, § 4, at 1, col 4 (Week in Review). This story, which briefly analyzes what makes certain crimes more widely reported and discussed, also noted that the Amsterdam News, a New York City newspaper which has a predominately black readership, featured the story of the stran- gled woman. Id.

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