Frequently asked questions

Q: Where does the Habeas Project get its funding?

A: The Habeas Project is able to do a lot of work with very few resources because it is almost exclusively staffed by committed volunteers. Several representatives contribute their time to the Habeas Project as part of their responsibilities as paid staff to other organizations such as Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, the California Women’s Law Center, the Los Angeles Public Defenders Office, Free Battered Women, and USC’s Post-Conviction Justice Project. The Advisory Committee also plans periodic fundraisers and submits grant proposals. Legal teams also solicit funds from their law firms or plan fundraisers to support the drafting petitions and hiring of experts.

We rely on the financial support of individuals like you, so please make a tax-deductible donation today to ensure that this vital work can continue. You may donate directly from our website or by sending a check or money order to: Habeas Project/LSPC, 1540 Market Street, Suite 490, San Francisco, CA 94102.

Q: What is the Habeas Project trying to achieve?

A: The Habeas Project is part of the movement to end all forms of violence against women. Our Project’s focus is to free domestic violence survivors from prison who were unjustly convicted of crimes relating to their experience of being abused.

Q: How many survivors of domestic violence is this law going to help?

A: To date, the Habeas Project has worked with more than 80 incarcerated domestic violence survivors.

Q: How many survivors of domestic violence have been released so far?

A: We have an extraordinarily high rate of release for Habeas Project clients. Overall, 19 survivors have been released through various means (such as writs of habeas corpus, parole, or compassionate release). Only a few cases have been denied, but the remaining cases are still being litigated.

Q: How many battered women are in prison (generally, or specifically, for killing their batterers)?

A: Specific information about the number of battered women who are in California’s state prisons for killing their abusive partner is not currently available. However, in California alone there are over 10,000 women in state prison, and we know from research that a majority of them have histories of being abused as children and/or adults (see Barbara Bloom, Meda Chesney Lind & Barbara Owen. 1994. Women in California Prisons: Hidden Victims of the War on Drugs. Center on Juvenile Crime and Criminal Justice Report. San Francisco, CA. p. 3). Thus, we believe that perhaps thousands of women in California’s prisons are survivors of domestic violence, many for crimes that are directly related to their experiences of domestic violence, although a much smaller number of them are eligible for habeas corpus relief under the current law.

Q: “Battered Women’s Syndrome” wasn’t a defense until 1992, right?

A: Battered Women’s Syndrome has never been a defense. This is a common myth. In criminal cases, evidence of domestic violence can support traditional defense claims, such as self-defense or duress, by explaining how a domestic violence survivor’s experiences of abuse related to the crime for which she was charged. In 1992, expert testimony on Battered Women’s Syndrome, which is now referred to as “intimate partner battering and its effects,” was formally made admissible in criminal cases in California. However, this law (Evidence Code §1107) was not retroactive. Therefore, most survivors convicted before 1992 never had the chance to talk about how their experience of being abused influenced their thoughts or behavior. Without this critical information, judges and juries were only getting part of the story, and these survivors were unjustly convicted.

Q: What’s different about the 2002 law and SB1385?

A: In 2002, a California law (Penal Code §1473.5) was passed that allowed relief for some incarcerated survivors who killed their intimate partners before 1992. We knew from the get-go that the law was woefully inadequate because it was limited to pre-1992 murder cases. The law didn’t afford relief to the many survivors who were coerced into committing crimes, such as a survivor who committed a robbery because she feared that her batterer would beat her if she refused, or survivors convicted of attempted murder. Therefore, in 2004 we supported a bill to expand the class of eligible survivors. The result was SB1385, signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in September 2004. As of January 1, 2005, all survivors who committed any violent felony (as defined in Penal Code §667.5) before August 29, 1996 (the date the CA Supreme Court decided the influential case, People v. Humphrey) and who did not have expert testimony on battering and its effects are now allowed to file a habeas petition to challenge their conviction in court. Another thing SB1385 amended was language around “Battered Women’s Syndrome”—now it is referred to as “intimate partner battering and its effects.”

Q: Why do you focus on battered women in prison?

A: We know that many domestic violence survivors serving long sentences in prison were convicted unjustly, without a judge or jury ever considering the survivor’s history of abuse or its effects on the survivor’s thoughts and actions. If these survivors of abuse were to be charged with the same crimes today, they would have the right to present the abuse evidence, and it’s unlikely that they’d be convicted or given a life sentence. We believe that these survivors deserve their day in court, and that if their true histories of being abused were considered by a judge or jury, they would be freed.