Reyes Term Shows Judicial Inequities

If memory serves me correctly, awhile back a white man named Charles Bothwell shot one Robert Foster at point-blank range at a time when Foster was no threat to Bothwell. Bothwell was hailed as something of a hero for killing Foster, who by all accounts was a heinous man and career criminal.

The district attorney’s office filed the case as voluntary manslaughter and recommended probation. The judge sentenced Bothwell to three years in prison.

Now we have Edna Reyes, a Latina illegal alien who killed her husband at a time when he posed no immediate threat to her. The man she killed was a heinous abuser. Multiple complaints to the public and public officials had not succeeded in keeping this man away from her and the children.

The DA’s office filed the Reyes case as murder and requested a 12-year sentence. She is sentenced to six years in prison.

Although I could argue for either prison or probation as being appropriate sentences for these crimes, I think public opinion should consider the meaning of this disparity in filing and sentencing decisions.

The truth is poor, nonwhite women in the criminal justice system are subjected to a different standard than white men. Racism and sexism are alive and well in the Ventura County Courthouse.

KATHERINE J. EMERICK

Ventura