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Clara Harris Interview

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 07:43:22 AM EST
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Clara Harris is the Houston dentist who was convicted of running down her husband with her car. She is serving 20 years.

The Houston Chronicle has a long interview today, notable for the descriptions both of life inside a Texas women's prison and the pain of separation prisons impose upon children of the incarcerated.

[link fixed]

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    Clara Harris Interview | 8 comments (8 topical)
    Re: Clara Harris Interview (none / 0) (#1)
    by cp on Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 02:13:24 PM EST
    i must admit to some confusion. in your original post, about her sentence, you were shocked, shocked, that her children would grow up without any parents. this, after mom murdered dad, and basically got away with a lesser charge, because "passion" was involved. as though that somehow makes dad any less dead. this is analogous to the child, who murders both parents, pleading for mercy, because he is an orphan. what makes this woman's murder of her husband less loathsome than the murder of anyone else? please, do not argue that she isn't a murderer, she clearly is, she murdered someone. that it was her husband, caught cheating with another woman, is irrelevant. ms. harris is an educated woman, she should have "gasp", hired a divorce attorney, she certainly could have afforded it. instead, she chose to act like trailer park trash. sorry, i have no sympathy for her. she should have thought about her children, before she murdered their father. last time i checked, in the united states, cheating on your spouse isn't a capital offense. i am stunned by your obvious sympathy for this woman, who isn't deserving of it.

    Re: Clara Harris Interview (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 02:24:22 PM EST
    Sentencing involves more than consideration of the crime--it also involves consideration of the history, character and individual circumstances of the offender. While some jail time might have been in order, 20 years is excessive given this particular woman's history and the needs of her young sons. The prosecutor kept telling the jury not to sentence based on sympathy for Clara Harris--and then she proceeded to choke up during her final argument as the court reporter got all teary and reached for a tissue. The defense objected and asked for a mistrial when she finished, and the Judge said, essentially, "Sorry, too late, what can I do about it now?" Fashioning a constructive sentence would not deprecate the seriousness of the offense. I certainly am not saying what she did was okay. But it was a single, abherrent act in an otherwise unblemished life. The jury found that she acted "in sudden passion", but then maxed her out on the sentence (it was 2 to 20, with a finding of "sudden passion"). I just don't think it's right, sorry CP, and to all you law and order fans.

    Re: Clara Harris Interview (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 04:58:17 PM EST
    What happened to all the posts? Some where funny. Too much bandwidth?

    Re: Clara Harris Interview (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 05:13:21 PM EST
    The long interview link is broken. Would like to read the whole story. It should have been manslaughter but people get more time for non violent drug crimes. I feel bad for her but the whole system is a mess. [link fixed now]

    Re: Clara Harris Interview (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 06:47:36 PM EST
    While some jail time might have been in order, 20 years is excessive given this particular woman's history and the needs of her young sons. Snip But it was a single, abherrent act in an otherwise unblemished life. So if Scott Peterson would've had kids you would have said "...some jail time might have been in order..."? She ran over him repeatedly while his daughter was in the car with her, screaming at her to stop. One news account said the daughter, "...Lindsey Harris retrieved her father's clothes from a trash can where her stepmother instructed they be thrown, then took the clothing into her bedroom to 'feel like he was there with me.'" You can call me a "law and order fan", but I'm a real liberal-- I would want the same sentence whether the criminal was a man or a woman.

    Re: Clara Harris Interview (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 27, 2005 at 07:49:49 PM EST
    And I would say the sentence was equally excessive if she was a man. Gender has nothing to do with it.

    Re: Clara Harris Interview (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 10:19:04 AM EST
    "But it was a single, abherrent act in an otherwise unblemished life." So? A otherwise umblemished life is NOT a defense for any abherrent act. Timothy Mcvay also led an umblemished life before he blew up 150+ people. And lucky for us, he was sent to the needle. This woman murdered her husband. She could have stopped after she hit him once. She turned AROUND and ran him over AGAIN. If she did it in cold blood, I am glad that her excuse did not work and she got 20 years. If she did it on the spur of her passion, I am glad that such a unstable person who could KILL is locked up for 20 years. Either way, it is the right thing to do and I am happy that our justice system works. [Ed. this commenter is limited to four comments a day. All in excess will be deleted.]

    Re: Clara Harris Interview (none / 0) (#8)
    by kdog on Mon Feb 28, 2005 at 10:24:36 AM EST
    A classic case of a crime of passion, with little to no chance of the perp re-offending. IMHO, 5-10 years tops would suffice. But if the people of Texas want to pay to cloth and feed her for twenty, it's their money. Seems silly though.

    Clara Harris Interview | 8 comments (8 topical)