Wanda Jean Allen And Leathers

This distressing documentary on the final three months of the life of Wanda Jean Allen is very disturbing. The movie shows how after 25 years of delaying the death penalty how Wanda Jean Allen was the first black woman to be executed in the State of Oklahoma. Allen was on trial for fatally shooting her lover, Gloria Leathers on December 1, 1988. Allen shot Leathers in front of her mother, Ruby Wilson in the parking lot of an Oklahoma City police station. Wanda Jean had met Leathers while in prison serving a four year sentence for manslaughter. Prior to Leathers’ shooting, Wanda Jean shot and killed a friend in a similar situation. During the movie, the story considerately scrutinizes the general issues of race and how the justice system affects the poor and the mentally handicapped. The fact that Allen is an African American and her sexual orientation demonstrated that these two factors were held against her in the conservative eyes of Oklahoma State. It also, distinctively raises questions about whether or not we …show more content…
The legal justice system needs to do a better job in finding out the truth about someone’s mental state before making a ruling to sentence someone to death. Apparently, Wanda Jean had a mental disability that was not brought to the attention of the jury. If someone has a mental illness, they should get help and be treated for the illness not put to death. If someone would have realize that Wanda Jean had a mental illness when she shot the first victim, then Leathers may still be alive today. The death penalty is an extremely harsh sentence and before someone is put to death, the justice system should make sure that it is the right decision to make. Even Leathers’ mother, Ruby Wilson didn’t feel that killing Allen would make any difference in the death of her daughter. It would not bring her daughter back and she wanted everyone to rise above the eye-for-an eye