Unwilling Mothers, Unwanted Babies: Infanticide in Canada (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780774811774)

This book traces twentieth-century Canadian criminal justice responses to women who kill their newly born babies. Initially, juries were reluctant to convict these women of murder since it carried the death penalty. The current "infanticide" law was adopted in 1948 to impose uniformity on legal practice and to ensure a homicide conviction. Even then, prosecutors faced considerable difficulties, but now, amidst media pressure, and with public attitudes possibly hardening, there are calls for the repeal of the infanticide law and the adoption of a draconian framework to deal with these cases.

Author: Kirsten Kramar
ISBN-10: 0774811773
ISBN-13: 9780774811774
Publisher: University of British Columbia Press
Language: English
Published: 01/01/2006
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.73lbs
Size: 8.98h x 6.08w x 0.68d