Valena Elizabeth Beety
Advocate. Author. Educator.
Valena Beety is a law professor, innocence litigator, and former federal prosecutor dedicated to confronting wrongful convictions and centering the women and queer people most targeted.
Coming soon
Pink Crime
Fighting against the criminalization of Motherhood, Pregnancy, and Queer Identity
When your identity is the crime, innocence is no defense.
A woman miscarries—and is charged with murder.
A new mother tests positive for a drug her hospital administered—and loses custody of her newborn.
Four women are convicted of horrific crimes against children they never touched, based on junk science and homophobia—and spend nearly twenty years in prison before being exonerated.
A queer teenager takes a photo of a child’s diaper rash at work—and is sentenced to 126 years.
These cases are not aberrations. They are symptoms of a system that punishes women and queer people not for what they have done, but for who they are.
A new mother tests positive for a drug her hospital administered—and loses custody of her newborn.
Four women are convicted of horrific crimes against children they never touched, based on junk science and homophobia—and spend nearly twenty years in prison before being exonerated.
A queer teenager takes a photo of a child’s diaper rash at work—and is sentenced to 126 years.
These cases are not aberrations. They are symptoms of a system that punishes women and queer people not for what they have done, but for who they are.
Selected Praise
“Beety writes with the precision of a litigator and the passion of someone who knows how much is at stake. Pink Crime is a vital service, a warning and a blueprint for fighting back.”
“Why do gender norms, moral panics, purity, and motherhood enter into the courts of law?What happened to seeking truth and justice? Will women ever have their own autonomy?”
“The polar opposite of true crime is not crime fiction, but rather convictions for crimes that never occurred at all. Valena Beety’s compelling must-read book explores how often gender bias plays a role in these cases, and how new Supreme Court rulings and state laws threaten a new wave of no-crime wrongful convictions.”
“Full of wit and wisdom, PINK CRIME is an absolute gem. After reading it, I guarantee you’ll be seeing red.”
“Be prepared to get angry. Pink Crime details the outrageous and staggering number of ways that, even in the twenty-first century, criminalization continues to punish women and queer people who make decisions about their own bodies.”
“Valena Beety’s work combines the rigor of her academic training with her deep experience as a lawyer for people who are wrongfully convicted. In her searing and memorable new book, Pink Crime, she explores a trap that can ensnare the innocent—prosecutions based on suspicions rooted not primarily in what they’ve done, but in who they are. Beety shows how pregnant and queer people are vulnerable to charges others would not face, especially when poverty plays a role. And she also offers hope by charging a path to resistance.”
Other Books by Valena Beety
