Murder and the Reasonable Man: Passion and Fear in the Criminal Courtroom

I highly recommend this book for law students interested in criminal law, either prosecution or defense side, and for students of the social sciences. Lee discusses how criminal defendants use provocation and self-defense arguments in the courtroom and how the defendants who rely on stereotypes regarding gender, race, and sexual orientation are often found to be reasonable in their violent acts. The book contains in-depth discussions of cases that illustrate Lee's thesis, making it easy to read for readers, including myself, who are not lawyers.

This well-crafted book is the thinking person's guide to understanding the "reasonable man" defense. Cynthia Lee has written a meticulously researched book both important for its insight into the spirit of the law, as it is applies to the reasonable man defense, as for her storytelling in providing us a glimpse of the people behind the legal cases she presents. The author builds an excellent case for revising the narrow social norms used by our legal system today when applying the reasonable man defense to less visible segments of our society: minorities, such as heterosexual women, gays and lesbians, and persons of color. She goes beyond pointing out what needs to be changed within our legal system by offering her own recommended solutions for leveling the playing field. Highly recommended for non-legal types who have a passion for equal rights under the law.

This is an extremely significant and thoughtful legal work challenging our notions of what should constitute "provocation" or "self-defense" in murder cases. Professor Lee illustrates how the defenses of "provocation" and "self-defense" have been successfully used to justify homocides motivated by racism, homophobia, and gender bias. Any criminal law judge or prosecutor who fails to read this book will be at a disadvantage in the courtroom. Every law student and every civil rights organization should read it.