Qualities of Mercy: Justice, Punishment, and DiscretionQualities of Mercy deals with the history of mercy, the remittance of punishments in the criminal law. The writers probe the discretionary use of power and inquire how it has been exercised to spare convicted criminals from the full might of the law. Drawing on the history of England, Canada, and Australia in periods when both capital and corporal punishment were still practised, they show that contrary to common assumptions the past was not a time of unmitigated terror and they ask what inspired restraint in punishment. They conclude that the ability to decide who lived and died -- through the exercise or denial of mercy -- reinforced the power structure. |
What people are saying - Write a review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - AlexTheHunn - LibraryThingCollection of essays concerning punishment and mercy in Great Britain, USA, Canada, and Australia. Read full review
Contents
The Decline | 21 |
Transportation Penal Practices and the English State | 52 |
The Politics of Pardons and the Upper | 77 |
Native Culture and the Modification of Capital Punish | 104 |
Political Culture and the Death Penalty in | 130 |
An Afterword | 166 |
Contributors | 179 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Aboriginal actions administrative appear argued Arthur Australian authority British British Columbia cabinet called Cambridge Canada Canadian capital punishment century changes charged City civilized colonial common commutation concerns condemned conditional considered continued convicted Court crime criminal justice criminal law critics cultural death penalty debates decisions deterrence discretion discretionary early effect eighteenth century England English essay evidence example executive exercise fact forms George hanged historians History human imprisonment Indians individual John Journal judges jury killing late legislation less London Lord means mercy minister moral murder Native nineteenth century noted observed offenders officials Ontario Oxford pardon particular penal period persons pillory political practice prison reasons reform reports responsibility role rule sentence severity social Society South suggest terror tion Toronto transportation trial University Press Upper women
Bibliographic information
| Title | Qualities of Mercy: Justice, Punishment, and Discretion EBSCO ebook academic collection |
| Editor | Carolyn Strange |
| Edition | revised |
| Publisher | UBC Press, 1996 |
| ISBN | 0774805854, 9780774805858 |
| Length | 186 pages |
| Subjects | › › › History / Europe / Great Britain / General History / World Law / Criminal Law / Sentencing Law / Legal History Social Science / Criminology Social Science / Penology |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |