News / FJP Releases
FJP Urges Supreme Court to Confront Prosecutorial Misconduct and Gender Bias in Death Penalty Case
Amicus brief warns that prosecutors' reliance on sexist stereotypes undermines fundamental fairness, constitutional protections, and public trust in the justice system
October 29, 2026 (Washington, D.C.) — Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP) filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review the conviction and death sentence of Brenda Andrew. The brief argues that prosecutors abandoned their fundamental duty to seek justice by relying on inflammatory gender stereotypes and prejudicial evidence throughout her trial. Rather than focusing on the evidence and the law, prosecutors encouraged jurors to judge Andrew for failing to conform to regressive and misogynist expectations of how a woman, wife, and mother should behave.
During Andrew’s 2004 capital trial, prosecutors repeatedly emphasized her clothing, sexual relationships, perceived shortcomings as a mother, and failure to display grief in an expected manner. In closing arguments, a prosecutor displayed Andrew’s underwear to the jury, questioned whether a grieving widow would wear it, and referred to her as a “slut puppy.” The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals acknowledged that the prosecution deliberately drew jurors’ attention to irrelevant and inflammatory suggestions about Andrew’s character, none of which made it more or less likely that she had committed the crime of which she was accused.
“Prosecutors cannot fulfill their duty to seek justice and hold people accountable without first holding themselves to the highest standards of fairness and integrity,” said Fair and Just Prosecution Executive Director Aramis N. Donell. “That means following the evidence, upholding the Constitution, and respecting the rights of every person who enters a courtroom. This responsibility is especially critical when a person’s life is at stake. When prosecutors substitute stereotypes and prejudice for evidence, they betray the public’s trust and undermine the very foundation of our justice system.”
FJP urges the Supreme Court to approve Andrew’s petition for review and to reaffirm a fundamental principle of American justice: people must be judged for what they do, not who they are perceived to be. Convictions and sentences must rest on evidence and law, not prejudice or gender stereotypes.