Uncertain Justice: Canadian Women and Capital Punishment, 1754-1953

Margaret Kechnie is head of the Women’s Studies Program at Laurentian
University and the co-editor of Changing Lives: Women in Northern
Ontario.

Uncertain Justice looks at women in Canada who were charged with various
offences punishable by death between 1754 and 1953, when the death
penalty was abolished in this country. During the period under
discussion, more than 200 crimes were punishable by death. Two themes
run through this book: the fate of people charged with capital offences
and the evolution of Canadian criminal law with respect to the treatment
of women and men charged with capital offences. In an age when DNA
testing has overturned the convictions of individuals serving prison
terms for crimes they did not commit, it is interesting to take a step
back and to look at our tradition of convicting and executing innocent
people. All too often, the wrongly accused were defended by incompetent
lawyers who knew little about defence strategy or trial procedures.