How a new Georgia bill could change the fate of domestic abuse survivors in prison

ATLANTA (news agencies) — Mary Favors is still plagued by nightmares from the days her husband beat her, choked her and verbally and sexually abused her. Now, she is in prison for killing him.

Their disagreements often turned physical, and five times he was convicted of abusing her. Then one night in April 2011, court records show, Troy Favors began shouting and hitting her before chasing her to their bedroom.

She quickly closed the door, alone inside, tying the bedroom door with a string because he had kicked it down before. She grabbed a knife in case he did that again, just before he burst in. When she told him to back off, he refused and, according to Favors, he jumped on the knife. Prosecutors accused her of stabbing him.

“It happened so fast,” Favors, 58, told media from prison in Georgia, later adding, “I felt my life was at risk.”

Between 74% and 95% of incarcerated women have survived domestic abuse or sexual violence, according to the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Many were tried without fair opportunities to prove the scope of the abuse and how it led them to act in self-defense, while others were coerced into crimes, according to advocates, who add that certain laws disproportionately criminalize abused women.

At other times, they say, people simply don’t believe women’s stories, with women of color like Favors who survive abuse especially likely to end up in prison.

But under the Georgia Survivor Justice Act, which passed the state House overwhelmingly with bipartisan support and still awaits Senate consideration ahead of the session’s end this week, abuse survivors could secure early release from prison.

The bill calls for judges to resentence those who are incarcerated and impose shorter sentences on those who are convicted if they can tie their crimes to domestic abuse. It also would expand what can be presented as supporting evidence.

It’s all part of a broader move toward reform that has gained momentum nationwide. New York, California, Illinois and Oklahoma have already passed laws intended to reduce sentences for victims of abuse who face charges or were convicted. Missouri, Connecticut and Massachusetts are considering similar legislation.

Facing possible life in prison for charges including murder, Favors pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter and three other offenses. She received the maximum of 20 years in prison for the killing and five years of probation for having the knife. Many incarcerated survivors are serving life sentences.

“There’s this blurring of the lines between victim and suspect when girls and women are criminalized for the sexual violence that they experience,” said Rebecca Epstein, executive director of the Center on Gender Justice and Opportunity at Georgetown Law.

After her husband’s death, Favors transported the body and left it elsewhere. Research shows similar snap decisions by victims in response to trauma can taint how jurors, judges and prosecutors see defendants, said Leigh Goodmark, a University of Maryland law professor who studies the criminalization of domestic violence.

Goodmark hopes efforts like Georgia’s will help judges and prosecutors “see that victimization is much more complicated than they want it to be.”

Current Georgia law is strict about how lawyers can bring in evidence of domestic abuse, said Ellie Williams, legal director with the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She is spearheading the legislation, which would loosen some restrictions, and said the strict guidelines reflect outdated understandings of abuse.

“Things that we don’t always take seriously matter, and we explicitly and implicitly require things that don’t adequately allow for the actual dynamics of abuse to be considered,” Williams said.

Under Georgia’s bill, if a judge determines family violence, dating violence or child abuse contributed to a crime with a minimum sentence of life in prison, the judge, in most cases, would have to impose a sentence of 10 to 30 years in prison.

For other felonies, judges would not be able to sentence the defendant to more than half of the maximum sentence they could have otherwise gotten. People in prison could also request resentencing under the rules if the act ultimately becomes law.

Georgia’s bill would also make it easier for courts to consider domestic violence in cases involving self-defense or victims being coerced into committing a crime, which is common.

The bill is “not a get out of jail free card,” said bill sponsor Rep. Stan Gunter, a Republican.

The day the House voted on it, several district attorneys contacted their representatives to oppose it.