Author: Ian O'Donnell
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192519433
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
Justice, Mercy, and Caprice is a work of criminal justice history that speaks to the gradual emergence of a more humane Irish state. It is a close examination of the decision to grant clemency to men and women sentenced to death between the end of the civil war in 1923 and the abolition of capital punishment in 1990. Frequently, the decision to deflect the law from its course was an attempt to introduce a measure of justice to a system where the mandatory death sentence for murder caused predictable unfairness and undue harshness. In some instances the decision to spare a life sprang from merciful motivations. In others it was capricious, depending on factors that should have had no place in the government's decision-making calculus. The custodial careers of those whose lives were spared repay scrutiny. Women tended to serve relatively short periods in prison but were often transferred to a religious institution where their confinement continued, occasionally for life. Men, by contrast, served longer in prison but were discharged directly to the community. Political offenders were either executed hastily or, when the threat of capital punishment had passed, incarcerated for extravagant periods. This book addresses issues that are of continuing relevance for countries that employ capital punishment. It will appeal to scholars with an interest in criminal justice history, executive discretion, and death penalty studies, as well as being a useful resource for students of penology.
Justice, Mercy, and Caprice
Author: Ian O'Donnell
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192519433
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
Justice, Mercy, and Caprice is a work of criminal justice history that speaks to the gradual emergence of a more humane Irish state. It is a close examination of the decision to grant clemency to men and women sentenced to death between the end of the civil war in 1923 and the abolition of capital punishment in 1990. Frequently, the decision to deflect the law from its course was an attempt to introduce a measure of justice to a system where the mandatory death sentence for murder caused predictable unfairness and undue harshness. In some instances the decision to spare a life sprang from merciful motivations. In others it was capricious, depending on factors that should have had no place in the government's decision-making calculus. The custodial careers of those whose lives were spared repay scrutiny. Women tended to serve relatively short periods in prison but were often transferred to a religious institution where their confinement continued, occasionally for life. Men, by contrast, served longer in prison but were discharged directly to the community. Political offenders were either executed hastily or, when the threat of capital punishment had passed, incarcerated for extravagant periods. This book addresses issues that are of continuing relevance for countries that employ capital punishment. It will appeal to scholars with an interest in criminal justice history, executive discretion, and death penalty studies, as well as being a useful resource for students of penology.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192519433
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
Justice, Mercy, and Caprice is a work of criminal justice history that speaks to the gradual emergence of a more humane Irish state. It is a close examination of the decision to grant clemency to men and women sentenced to death between the end of the civil war in 1923 and the abolition of capital punishment in 1990. Frequently, the decision to deflect the law from its course was an attempt to introduce a measure of justice to a system where the mandatory death sentence for murder caused predictable unfairness and undue harshness. In some instances the decision to spare a life sprang from merciful motivations. In others it was capricious, depending on factors that should have had no place in the government's decision-making calculus. The custodial careers of those whose lives were spared repay scrutiny. Women tended to serve relatively short periods in prison but were often transferred to a religious institution where their confinement continued, occasionally for life. Men, by contrast, served longer in prison but were discharged directly to the community. Political offenders were either executed hastily or, when the threat of capital punishment had passed, incarcerated for extravagant periods. This book addresses issues that are of continuing relevance for countries that employ capital punishment. It will appeal to scholars with an interest in criminal justice history, executive discretion, and death penalty studies, as well as being a useful resource for students of penology.
Imperial Gallows
Author: Stacey Hynd
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350302651
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
Not just a method of crime control or individual punishment in Britain's African territories, the death penalty was an integral aspect of colonial networks of power and violence. Imperial Gallows analyses capital trials from Kenya, Nyasaland and the Gold Coast to explore the social tensions that fueled murder among colonised populations, and how colonial legal cultures and landscapes of political authority shaped sentencing and mercy. It demonstrates how ideas of race, ethnicity, gender and 'civilization' could both spare and condemn Africans convicted of murder in colonial courts, and also how Africans could either appropriate or resist such colonial legal discourses in their trials and petitions. In this book, Stacey Hynd follows the whole process of capital punishment from the identification of a murder victim to trial and conviction, through the process of mercy and sentencing onto death row and execution. The scandals that erupted over the death penalty, from botched executions and moral panics over ritual murder, to the hanging of anti-colonial rebels for 'terrorist' and emergency offences, provide significant insights into the shifting moral and political economies of colonial violence. This monograph contextualises the death penalty within the wider penal systems and coercive networks of British colonial Africa to highlight the shifting targets of the imperial gallows against rebels, robbers or domestic murderers. Imperial Gallows demonstrates that while hangings were key elements of colonial iconography in British Africa, symbolically loaded events that demonstrated imperial power and authority, they also reveal the limits of that power.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350302651
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
Not just a method of crime control or individual punishment in Britain's African territories, the death penalty was an integral aspect of colonial networks of power and violence. Imperial Gallows analyses capital trials from Kenya, Nyasaland and the Gold Coast to explore the social tensions that fueled murder among colonised populations, and how colonial legal cultures and landscapes of political authority shaped sentencing and mercy. It demonstrates how ideas of race, ethnicity, gender and 'civilization' could both spare and condemn Africans convicted of murder in colonial courts, and also how Africans could either appropriate or resist such colonial legal discourses in their trials and petitions. In this book, Stacey Hynd follows the whole process of capital punishment from the identification of a murder victim to trial and conviction, through the process of mercy and sentencing onto death row and execution. The scandals that erupted over the death penalty, from botched executions and moral panics over ritual murder, to the hanging of anti-colonial rebels for 'terrorist' and emergency offences, provide significant insights into the shifting moral and political economies of colonial violence. This monograph contextualises the death penalty within the wider penal systems and coercive networks of British colonial Africa to highlight the shifting targets of the imperial gallows against rebels, robbers or domestic murderers. Imperial Gallows demonstrates that while hangings were key elements of colonial iconography in British Africa, symbolically loaded events that demonstrated imperial power and authority, they also reveal the limits of that power.
Justice, Mercy, and Caprice
Author: Ian O'Donnell
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198798474
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
The book is a work of criminal justice history that speaks to the emergence of a more humane Irish state - a close examination of the decision to grant clemency to those sentenced to death between 1923 and 1990, addressing important issues of law and penology that are of continuing relevance for countries that use capital punishment.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198798474
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 337
Book Description
The book is a work of criminal justice history that speaks to the emergence of a more humane Irish state - a close examination of the decision to grant clemency to those sentenced to death between 1923 and 1990, addressing important issues of law and penology that are of continuing relevance for countries that use capital punishment.
Courting the Community
Author: Christine Zozula
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 9781439917398
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Community Courts are designed to handle a city’s low-level offenses and quality-of-life crimes, such as littering, loitering, or public drunkenness. Court advocates maintain that these largely victimless crimes jeopardize the well-being of residents, businesses, and visitors. Whereas traditional courts might dismiss such cases or administer a small fine, community courts aim to meaningfully punish offenders to avoid disorder escalating to apocalyptic decline. Courting the Community is a fascinating ethnography that goes behind the scenes to explore how quality-of-life discourses are translated into court practices that marry therapeutic and rehabilitative ideas. Christine Zozula shows how residents and businesses participate in meting out justice—such as through community service, treatment, or other sanctions—making it more emotional, less detached, and more legitimate in the eyes of stakeholders. She also examines both “impact panels,” in which offenders, residents, and business owners meet to discuss how quality-of-life crimes negatively impact the neighborhood, as well as strategic neighborhood outreach efforts to update residents on cases and gauge their concerns. Zozula’s nuanced investigation of community courts can lead us to a deeper understanding of punishment and rehabilitation and, by extension, the current state of the American court system.
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 9781439917398
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Community Courts are designed to handle a city’s low-level offenses and quality-of-life crimes, such as littering, loitering, or public drunkenness. Court advocates maintain that these largely victimless crimes jeopardize the well-being of residents, businesses, and visitors. Whereas traditional courts might dismiss such cases or administer a small fine, community courts aim to meaningfully punish offenders to avoid disorder escalating to apocalyptic decline. Courting the Community is a fascinating ethnography that goes behind the scenes to explore how quality-of-life discourses are translated into court practices that marry therapeutic and rehabilitative ideas. Christine Zozula shows how residents and businesses participate in meting out justice—such as through community service, treatment, or other sanctions—making it more emotional, less detached, and more legitimate in the eyes of stakeholders. She also examines both “impact panels,” in which offenders, residents, and business owners meet to discuss how quality-of-life crimes negatively impact the neighborhood, as well as strategic neighborhood outreach efforts to update residents on cases and gauge their concerns. Zozula’s nuanced investigation of community courts can lead us to a deeper understanding of punishment and rehabilitation and, by extension, the current state of the American court system.
Sentencing Policy and Social Justice
Author: Ralph Henham
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191029033
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
Sentencing Policy and Social Justice argues that the promotion of social justice should become a key objective of sentencing policy, advancing the argument that the legitimacy of sentencing ultimately depends upon the strength of the relationship between social morality and penal ideology. It sheds light on how shared moral values can influence sentencing policy at a time when relationships of community appear increasingly fragmented, arguing that sentencing will be better placed to make a positive contribution to social justice if it becomes more sensitive to the commonly-accepted moral boundaries that underpin adherence to the 'rule of law'. The need to reflect public opinion in sentencing has received significant attention more recently, with renewed interest in jury sentencing, 'stakeholder sentencing', and the involvement of community views when regulating policy. The author, however, advocates a different approach, combining a new theoretical focus with practical suggestions for reform, and arguing that the contribution sentencing can make to social justice necessitates a fundamental change in the way shared values about the advantages of punishment are reflected in penal ideology and sentencing policy. Using examples from international, comparative and domestic contexts to advance the moral and ethical case for challenging the existing theories of sentencing, the book develops the author's previous theoretical ideas and outlines how these changes could be given practical shape within the context of sentencing in England and Wales. It assesses the consequences for penal governance due to increased state regulation of discretionary sentencing power and examines the prospects for achieving the kind of moral transformation regarded as necessary to reverse such a move. To illustrate these issues each chapter focuses on a particularly problematic area for contemporary sentencing policy; namely, the sentencing of women; the sentencing of irregular migrants; sentencing for offences of serious public disorder; and sentencing for financial crime.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191029033
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
Sentencing Policy and Social Justice argues that the promotion of social justice should become a key objective of sentencing policy, advancing the argument that the legitimacy of sentencing ultimately depends upon the strength of the relationship between social morality and penal ideology. It sheds light on how shared moral values can influence sentencing policy at a time when relationships of community appear increasingly fragmented, arguing that sentencing will be better placed to make a positive contribution to social justice if it becomes more sensitive to the commonly-accepted moral boundaries that underpin adherence to the 'rule of law'. The need to reflect public opinion in sentencing has received significant attention more recently, with renewed interest in jury sentencing, 'stakeholder sentencing', and the involvement of community views when regulating policy. The author, however, advocates a different approach, combining a new theoretical focus with practical suggestions for reform, and arguing that the contribution sentencing can make to social justice necessitates a fundamental change in the way shared values about the advantages of punishment are reflected in penal ideology and sentencing policy. Using examples from international, comparative and domestic contexts to advance the moral and ethical case for challenging the existing theories of sentencing, the book develops the author's previous theoretical ideas and outlines how these changes could be given practical shape within the context of sentencing in England and Wales. It assesses the consequences for penal governance due to increased state regulation of discretionary sentencing power and examines the prospects for achieving the kind of moral transformation regarded as necessary to reverse such a move. To illustrate these issues each chapter focuses on a particularly problematic area for contemporary sentencing policy; namely, the sentencing of women; the sentencing of irregular migrants; sentencing for offences of serious public disorder; and sentencing for financial crime.
The Routledge Handbook of Criminal Justice Ethics
Author: Jonathan Jacobs
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134619456
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 419
Book Description
The enormous financial cost of criminal justice has motivated increased scrutiny and recognition of the need for constructive change, but what of the ethical costs of current practices and policies? Moreover, if we seriously value the principles of liberal democracy then there is no question that the ethics of criminal justice are everybody’s business, concerns for the entire society. The Routledge Handbook of Criminal Justice Ethics brings together international scholars to explore the most significant ethical issues throughout their many areas of expertise, anchoring their discussions in the empirical realities of the issues faced rather than applying moral theory at a distance. Contributions from philosophers, legal scholars, criminologists and psychologists bring a fresh and interdisciplinary approach to the field. The Handbook is divided into three parts: Part I addresses the core issues concerning criminal sanction, the moral and political aspects of the justification of punishment, and the relationship between law and morality. Part II examines criminalization and criminal liability, and the assumptions and attitudes shaping those aspects of contemporary criminal justice. Part III evaluates current policies and practices of criminal procedure, exploring the roles of police, prosecutors, judges, and juries and suggesting directions for revising how criminal justice is achieved. Throughout, scholars seek pathways for change and suggest new solutions to address the central concerns of criminal justice ethics. This book is an ideal resource for upper-undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses in criminal justice ethics, criminology, and criminal justice theory, and also for students of philosophy interested in punishment, law and society, and law and ethics.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134619456
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 419
Book Description
The enormous financial cost of criminal justice has motivated increased scrutiny and recognition of the need for constructive change, but what of the ethical costs of current practices and policies? Moreover, if we seriously value the principles of liberal democracy then there is no question that the ethics of criminal justice are everybody’s business, concerns for the entire society. The Routledge Handbook of Criminal Justice Ethics brings together international scholars to explore the most significant ethical issues throughout their many areas of expertise, anchoring their discussions in the empirical realities of the issues faced rather than applying moral theory at a distance. Contributions from philosophers, legal scholars, criminologists and psychologists bring a fresh and interdisciplinary approach to the field. The Handbook is divided into three parts: Part I addresses the core issues concerning criminal sanction, the moral and political aspects of the justification of punishment, and the relationship between law and morality. Part II examines criminalization and criminal liability, and the assumptions and attitudes shaping those aspects of contemporary criminal justice. Part III evaluates current policies and practices of criminal procedure, exploring the roles of police, prosecutors, judges, and juries and suggesting directions for revising how criminal justice is achieved. Throughout, scholars seek pathways for change and suggest new solutions to address the central concerns of criminal justice ethics. This book is an ideal resource for upper-undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses in criminal justice ethics, criminology, and criminal justice theory, and also for students of philosophy interested in punishment, law and society, and law and ethics.
Gender and punishment in Ireland
Author: Lynsey Black
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526145308
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 215
Book Description
Gender and punishment in Ireland explores women’s lethal violence in Ireland. Drawing on comprehensive archival research, including government documents, press reporting, the remnants of public opinion and the voices of the women themselves, the book contributes to the burgeoning literature on gender and punishment and women who kill. Engaging with concepts such as ‘double deviance’, chivalry, paternalism and ‘coercive confinement’, the work explores the penal landscape for offending women in postcolonial Ireland, examining in particular the role of the Catholic Church in responses to female deviance. The book is an extensive interdisciplinary treatment of women who kill in Ireland and will be useful to scholars of gender, criminology and history.
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526145308
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 215
Book Description
Gender and punishment in Ireland explores women’s lethal violence in Ireland. Drawing on comprehensive archival research, including government documents, press reporting, the remnants of public opinion and the voices of the women themselves, the book contributes to the burgeoning literature on gender and punishment and women who kill. Engaging with concepts such as ‘double deviance’, chivalry, paternalism and ‘coercive confinement’, the work explores the penal landscape for offending women in postcolonial Ireland, examining in particular the role of the Catholic Church in responses to female deviance. The book is an extensive interdisciplinary treatment of women who kill in Ireland and will be useful to scholars of gender, criminology and history.
Desert, Retribution, and Torture
Author: Stephen Kershnar
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 9780761821533
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 220
Book Description
In general, there are two ways in which punishment is justified. Forward-looking justifications look to the good results that punishment brings about and that therefore occur after it. These results include the wrongdoer being deterred, incapacitated, or improved, as well as the deterrence of would-be wrongdoers, a decrease in costs associated with crime prevention, less fear in the community, and the promotion of hatred and disgust for actions that victimize others. In contrast, backward-looking justifications look to events that occurred before the punishment. On this approach, punishment is not justified via the good results that it brings about. The dominant backward-looking justification is retributivism. According to it, the wrongdoer in virtue of his past act deserves punishment and this desert justifies punishment. This book is an in-depth defense of retributivism. Since punitive desert lies at the heart of retributivism, it is important to provide an analysis of it. This is the focus of the first part of the book. I argue that punitive desert has to do with punishment being an intrinsically valuable event, where its value results from its standing in a certain relation to a person's having culpably performed a wrongdoing. I argue that this type of desert does not by itself contain moral duties to act in any way. In particular, it does not impose on someone the duty to punish a wrongdoer. This results in retributivism being more complex than the traditional accounts, since it must therefore involve duties that refer to but are not constituted by punitive desert. I also argue that punitive desert is independent of the wrongdoer's moral character and instead rests solely on a person's acts. Lastly, I argue that the value of punitive desert cannot be accounted for via more fundamental moral considerations. This results in punitive desert being a rather primitive moral notion in that it is not justified via more fundamental moral values. Like other intrinsically good things, e.g. friendship, and other intrinsically bad things, e.g. promise-breaking, punitive desert can be used to explain why certain states of affairs are both good and right.--Adapted from introduction.
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 9780761821533
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 220
Book Description
In general, there are two ways in which punishment is justified. Forward-looking justifications look to the good results that punishment brings about and that therefore occur after it. These results include the wrongdoer being deterred, incapacitated, or improved, as well as the deterrence of would-be wrongdoers, a decrease in costs associated with crime prevention, less fear in the community, and the promotion of hatred and disgust for actions that victimize others. In contrast, backward-looking justifications look to events that occurred before the punishment. On this approach, punishment is not justified via the good results that it brings about. The dominant backward-looking justification is retributivism. According to it, the wrongdoer in virtue of his past act deserves punishment and this desert justifies punishment. This book is an in-depth defense of retributivism. Since punitive desert lies at the heart of retributivism, it is important to provide an analysis of it. This is the focus of the first part of the book. I argue that punitive desert has to do with punishment being an intrinsically valuable event, where its value results from its standing in a certain relation to a person's having culpably performed a wrongdoing. I argue that this type of desert does not by itself contain moral duties to act in any way. In particular, it does not impose on someone the duty to punish a wrongdoer. This results in retributivism being more complex than the traditional accounts, since it must therefore involve duties that refer to but are not constituted by punitive desert. I also argue that punitive desert is independent of the wrongdoer's moral character and instead rests solely on a person's acts. Lastly, I argue that the value of punitive desert cannot be accounted for via more fundamental moral considerations. This results in punitive desert being a rather primitive moral notion in that it is not justified via more fundamental moral values. Like other intrinsically good things, e.g. friendship, and other intrinsically bad things, e.g. promise-breaking, punitive desert can be used to explain why certain states of affairs are both good and right.--Adapted from introduction.
Modern Literature and the Death Penalty, 1890-1950
Author: Katherine Ebury
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030527506
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 285
Book Description
This book examines how the cultural and ethical power of literature allowed writers and readers to reflect on the practice of capital punishment in the UK, Ireland and the US between 1890 and 1950. It explores how connections between ‘high’ and ‘popular’ culture seem particularly inextricable where the death penalty is at stake, analysing a range of forms including major works of canonical literature, detective fiction, plays, polemics, criminological and psychoanalytic tracts and letters and memoirs. The book addresses conceptual understandings of the modern death penalty, including themes such as confession, the gothic, life-writing and the human-animal binary. It also discusses the role of conflict in shaping the representation of capital punishment, including chapters on the Easter Rising, on World War I, on colonial and quasi-colonial conflict and on World War II. Ebury’s overall approach aims to improve our understanding of the centrality of the death penalty and the role it played in major twentieth century literary movements and historical events.
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030527506
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 285
Book Description
This book examines how the cultural and ethical power of literature allowed writers and readers to reflect on the practice of capital punishment in the UK, Ireland and the US between 1890 and 1950. It explores how connections between ‘high’ and ‘popular’ culture seem particularly inextricable where the death penalty is at stake, analysing a range of forms including major works of canonical literature, detective fiction, plays, polemics, criminological and psychoanalytic tracts and letters and memoirs. The book addresses conceptual understandings of the modern death penalty, including themes such as confession, the gothic, life-writing and the human-animal binary. It also discusses the role of conflict in shaping the representation of capital punishment, including chapters on the Easter Rising, on World War I, on colonial and quasi-colonial conflict and on World War II. Ebury’s overall approach aims to improve our understanding of the centrality of the death penalty and the role it played in major twentieth century literary movements and historical events.
Reflections on Irish Criminology
Author: Orla Lynch
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030605930
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 170
Book Description
This book explores the development of the discipline of Criminology on the island of Ireland, through conversations with leading criminologists. Adding depth and breadth to the understandings of this growing discipline, leading scholars discuss their personal journey to Criminology, their research areas, their theoretical influences and the impact of the discipline of Criminology on how we think about criminal justice in Ireland and beyond. Research topics include desistence, victims’ rights, parole, policing and research methods. The book explores what influences framed the work of key thinkers in the area and how Criminology intersects with policy and practice within and beyond the criminological and criminal justice fields. It provides an insight into how the discipline has emerged as a discrete subject through a discussion of Ireland's key historical moments. It argues that Ireland's unique historical, cultural, political, social and economic arrangements and research about Ireland have much to offer the international field of Criminology. This volume also reflects on future directions for Irish Criminology, as well as sounding warnings to ensure the healthy development of the field as a discipline in its own right and as an interdisciplinary undertaking.
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030605930
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 170
Book Description
This book explores the development of the discipline of Criminology on the island of Ireland, through conversations with leading criminologists. Adding depth and breadth to the understandings of this growing discipline, leading scholars discuss their personal journey to Criminology, their research areas, their theoretical influences and the impact of the discipline of Criminology on how we think about criminal justice in Ireland and beyond. Research topics include desistence, victims’ rights, parole, policing and research methods. The book explores what influences framed the work of key thinkers in the area and how Criminology intersects with policy and practice within and beyond the criminological and criminal justice fields. It provides an insight into how the discipline has emerged as a discrete subject through a discussion of Ireland's key historical moments. It argues that Ireland's unique historical, cultural, political, social and economic arrangements and research about Ireland have much to offer the international field of Criminology. This volume also reflects on future directions for Irish Criminology, as well as sounding warnings to ensure the healthy development of the field as a discipline in its own right and as an interdisciplinary undertaking.