Alyssa Bustamante

A political prisoner can be defined in various ways. According to BBC News the phrase political prisoner “has little meaning in legal terms; there is no internationally recognized definition of a political prisoner”(1998). Furthermore they define it as “Any prisoner whose case has a significant political element: whether the motivation of the prisoner’s acts, the acts themselves, or the motivation of the authorities” (1998). In addition another source, gives further an example on how women could be labeled one. Shelley Bannister argues “Women who respond to male violence with physical resistance, and are incarcerated as a result, should be viewed as political prisoners” (Meyers, 1997).

As mentioned previously Alyssa Bustamante was incarcerated for strangling, cutting, and stabbing a nine-year-old girl because she wanted to know how it felt to kill someone, she was sentenced to life in prison with possibility of parole. According to sources, Alyssa’s academic tests revealed she is a gifted student but she sometimes does not apply herself in class (McGowin, 2009). But on the contrary Alyssa reveals a troublesome side. Her YouTube page lists her hobbies as killing people and cutting (McGowin, 2009). In addition to this behavior, the juvenile court said that they had to trim her fingernails because she was using them to cut-up her arms, and she also tried to commit suicide and was hospitalized and received daily therapy since that accident (McGowin, 2009). In addition Alyssa is also taking Prozac to combat her depression. As we could tell Alyssa has had a troublesome childhood.

It could be said that Alyssa Bustamante is a political prisoner because of the act of murder of a nine year Elizabeth Preiss. During trial defense attor...

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...r Alyssa to be admitted into a women prison would be horrible because it would be hard for her to get treated for her depression and as she mentioned in her journal if she cannot talk to no one she will become bottled up and explode which precisely would happen to her going to an unknown environment.

Works Cited

Meyers, M. M. (1997). News coverage of violence against women: Engendering blame. (pp. 35-37). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Print.

McGowin, M. M. (2009, November 11). Who is alyssa bustamante?. Retrieved from http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=379234

George, E. G. (2010). A women doing life notes from a prison for women. (2010 ed., pp. 130-140). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Print.

When is a 'criminal' a 'political prisoner'?. (1998, January 9). Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/46095.stm