|= 

 

 

going to kill Eddie Hartman

because he is gay? Some may not
think this a fair question since g
Hartman admitted killi-ng Herman 
Smith in 1993. However, there is.

us the State of North Carolina

serious question about the sentencing’: '

portion of his trial. Hartman is

2003. A . , ..,
The penalty portion of a ~ ,
trial is the stepin the legal process. l_

where family members andothers _A 
are given opportunity tdplead for the’. 

life of a convicted murderer. Often.  . 

they may present history ofifamilyl ; A
problems and abuse_. They‘-=m"ay show '
how the convicted person had prob-.. .'

' ’ lems or" events in life that may cause-l_”“?
- the jury to be sympathetic and allow,» _V . . _ - j
'  jw ,_ ‘an-was a homosexual.
pl‘  p to anti—gay bias in
order-t"o‘get the death penalty for

life in prison rather  ‘
Eddie Hartman’s5.trial was ..
no exception. His. rnother and aunt" "

presented testimony to show a trou-V  \ I

Every time a
familv member

asked for mercy,

the prosecutor
responded by
questioning

whether Hartman

was a
homosexual. A

bled life that may have helped influ-
ence the jury. Prosecuting Attorney
David Beard decided to counter this

scheduled to be executed October by 

..............~......e-..-V..e.v-,.q-gewavp-eve v s . » . w y . ~;

  
     

 

. y. questioningf.

Eddie Hartma’rl.‘The judge asked the
. » . jury _to'clisregard Beard’s
. statements, yet the bias
was already introduced.
Beard admitted
to emphasizing Hartman’s
V homosexuality in order to
getthe death penalty. He
discouraged the jury from
considering that Hartman
grew up in a violent and
sexually abusive environ-
ment. He watched his own
mother try to commit sui-
cide twice, and he was
beaten by three of his
mother’s six husbands —
once so badly with a club
that he was hospitalized
for a week. Beard
believed he was justified
in asking the jury to over-
look these critical facts
because Hartman is gay.
The tactic of
— introducing bias in order
to get the death_penalty is
nothing new in the U.S.
This case shows bias against sexual
minorities, but a Justice Department
reports shows that the majority of the

ties. Overvvhelmingly the people on

. Economic bias plays a critical role in

._death penalty quote Scripture to jus-

< those who are weak politically. Luke-g ;.   .

like, “An eye for an eye.”

crime was horrible and few if any

 
 
  

t .»~ er .- .5 2 ..= .' x .>,e°  a xv‘;/.a‘.:'.:
.~ .. .~ 2.5 .4 -».l.

 Good legal advice
 fgcatl all the difference.

people on death row are racial
minorities. Those who are not racial
minorities are often sexual minori- ’

death row are male and poor.

 

  & Wool takes
  to the
g  l  ein.  for gay
i C   fns,f:and to

whether someone will be put to death ‘ 3
or simply receiveslife in prison. , ' i
g Justice obviously isn’t truly
blind in America, in spite of all the
rhetoric that says otherwise. Ofien
the conservatives who support the

 

 

tify their cause.‘ Yet this look at
Scripture is selective. .. ‘

l The ancient prophet Isaiah. T .
wamed that God would bring justice  
on political leaders who would not in
uphold the.rigl'i/ts. of the poor and

records a  to Saint Peter in’   "
Acts 19 that he should not allow.
himself to "be" prejudiced, but that
God makes every minority clean in
God's eyes. Somehow, these pas-
sages are forgotten in favor of things

N° d°"bt Em’ Ha”'"""’s LangroCk.,Sperry & Wool offers the services of 22

lawyers with "over 300 years combined experience in
V , all‘a‘reas'of the law — including two lesbian
"attorneys with special expertise serving the legal '

needs of the g/l/b/t/q community

would argue that the state must
uphold law and order. However to
bias a jury is just as horrible, and to
allow a man to be put to death
because of prejudice simply com-
pounds one evil upon another.
Perhaps the State of North Carolina '
can find a way to charge Attorney
Beard with a hate crime. He is no
doubt guilty of hatred toward homo-
sexuals. V

l
l
l
l

SUSAN MURRAY & BETH ROBINSON

With offices in Middlebury and Burlington l
’ Middlebury (802) 388-6356 ‘
A Burlington (802) 864-0217
smurray@langrock.com brobinson@langrock.com

Robert Buchanan is an Evangelical
Anglican minister who lives withhis
partner of many years in Durham,
NC. He is the author of Love, Honor,
and Respect How to Confront
Homosexual Bias and Violence in
Christian Culture and director of the
Institute for Inclusive Christianity.
He may be reached at bob@inclu-
sivechristians. org.

    Langrock Sperry & Wool, LLP

cAf_TToRNi~:rs AT LAW

Each Other

cont'd from previous page

followed them. In Amiens, Vita
learned that there had been some sex-
ual exchange between Denys and
Violet just before they lefi England.
There was a scene in a restaurant
between the lovers while the hus-
bands looked on. Vita was angry and
jealous at Violet’s betrayal, but~it was

also the out she needed. She could
never give up her life with Harold
and their sons for one with Violet, no
matter how much she loved her. In
the restaurant she kissed Violet good-
bye, and she and Harold got on a
train for Paris.

The affair took another
couple of years to completely wear
out. Between the two of them they
had made a wreck of Violet’s life: her
mother was fed up, neither her father
nor her sister would speak to her, and

Denys insisted on divorce. She wrote
inher last letter to Vita in 1921: “You
have chosen, my darling;-you had to
choose between me and your family
and you have chosen them. V

Mary Koen
‘lntfgrendent Wellness Consultant

Products to promote energy, sleep.
pain management, environmental
and nutritional health.
Business opportunity to build financial

Francesca Susanna is a writer inter-
ested in lesbians through history. She
lives in Burlington.

    

C N’;E’£N“ independence and security
_ ‘J'bta.lWell}wss Concept’
meko_en@sover.net 802-388-3052