Texas Prisons: Why These 7 Women Received Death Sentences

In all, 27 of the states in America have death row -- including in Texas. The Lone Star State has had executions since 1819. It was only when the U.S. Supreme Court declared Capital Punishment "cruel and unusual" in 1972 that executions ceased in the state.

However, executions resumed in Texas in 1974. Since the year 1976, there have been 580 state executions. Currently, 196 people are sitting on death row -- including 7 women.

How often do women get sentenced to death?

One notable case involving a woman was in 1984. Karla Faye Tucker was convicted of murder that year, and executed in 1998. She was the first woman to be executed in the U.S. since 1984 and the first in Texas since 1863.

The most recently executed woman was Lisa Colman in 2014. She was sentenced for torturing and starving her girlfriend's young son to death.

The seven women placed on death row today have not been given an execution date. One woman has been on Death row since 1995, and the most recent was sentenced in 2022.

Is there a reason more men are sentenced to death row than women?

It's easy to see that far more men are sentenced to death row than women are -- and this is not only the case in Texas. There are many reasons one could blame this on, but one study chalks it up to gender bias.

gender bias continues to exist in the application of the death penalty, and that this bias has roots in the historic notion of chivalry.

The study claims women tend to get lighter sentences due to biases, or stereotypes. These can include beliefs such as what a woman's role in society is; that women have a lower capacity for violence; that women are weaker; and others.

But every now and then a woman does get sentenced to capital punishment. Including these seven: