Justice, Mercy, and Caprice

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian O'Donnell
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Death Sentence ◽  
Religious Institution ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
National Archives ◽  
The Law

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 what can be learned from the National Archives of Ireland about 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 commute a death penalty 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, such as a Magdalen laundry, where their coercive confinement continued, occasionally for life. Men, by contrast, served longer in prison but were discharged directly to the community. Political offenders, such as members of the IRA, were either executed hastily or, when the threat of capital punishment had passed, incarcerated for extravagant periods. The issues addressed are of continuing relevance for countries that retain capital punishment as the ultimate sanction.

The Execution of Wallace Wilkerson

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Acker ◽  
Ryan Champagne
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Death Sentence ◽  
Legal Documents ◽  
Judicial Decisions ◽  
Firing Squad ◽  
Lethal Injection ◽  
The U.S

Wallace Wilkerson was executed by a Utah firing squad in 1879 after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of his sentence. Shots from the marksmen’s rifles missed his heart. Not strapped into the chair where he had been seated, Wilkerson lurched onto the ground and exclaimed, “My God!…They missed it!” He groaned, continued breathing, and was pronounced dead some 27 min later. Relying on contemporaneous news accounts and legal documents, this article describes Wilkerson’s crime, the judicial decisions upholding his death sentence, and his execution. It next examines ensuing methods of capital punishment from the electric chair through lethal injection and notes persistent gaps between principle and practice in the continuing quest for increasingly humane modes of execution. The article concludes by suggesting that Wilkerson’s botched firing squad execution harbingered difficulties which continue to plague capital punishment. The implications for the future of the death penalty—a long-standing and resilient practice in American criminal justice—and the ultimate legacy of Wallace Wilkerson remain uncertain, although starkly evident is the daunting and perhaps impossible challenge of reconciling the paradox inherent in the concept of a “humane execution.”

Capital Punishment in the Post-Civil War Years

2020 ◽  
pp. 31-62
Author(s):  
David M. Doyle ◽  
Liam O’Callaghan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Death Sentences

This chapter examines the application of the death penalty in the first ten years of the Free State. Historians to date have argued that the relatively high number of civilian executions in the early post-independence years was symptomatic of Cumann nGaedheal’s broader anxieties with issues of law and order. This chapter revises that assessment and argues that those convicted of murder in the civilian courts in these years were no more likely to have their sentence carried out than those convicted in subsequent eras. By closely examining the decision-making process leading to the execution or commutation of death sentences, particularly the role of judges and government officials, this chapter argues that the death penalty, as imposed by the ordinary courts, was an example of the government’s efforts to restore peacetime civilian norms to the criminal justice system and was not used to any political end.

The Use of the Death Penalty

1969 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter C. Reckless
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Death Sentence ◽  
Dramatic Reduction ◽  
Public Sentiment ◽  
Discernible Effect ◽  
The World ◽  
Important Trend

Undoubtedly the most important trend in capital punishment has been the dramatic reduction in the number of offenses statutorily punishable by the death penalty. About two hundred years ago England had over two hundred offenses calling for the death penalty; it now has four. Some countries have abolished capital punishment completely; a few retain it for unusual offenses only. The trend throughout the world, even in the great number of countries that retain the death penalty, is definitely toward a de facto, not a de jure, form of abolition. In the United States, where the death penalty is possible in three-fourths of the states, the number of executions has declined from 199 in 1935 to an average of less than three in the last four years. This change is related to public sentiment against the use of the death penalty and even more directly to the unwillingness of juries and courts to impose a first-degree sentence. The increasing willingness of governors to commute a death sentence and of courts to hear appeals also contributes to this decline. A review of the evidence indicates that use of the death penalty has no discernible effect on the commission of capital offenses (especially murder).

scholarly journals The Punitive Woman? Gender Differences in Public Attitudes Toward Parole Among an Australian Sample

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (10) ◽  
pp. 3006-3022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon Dodd
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Offender Rehabilitation ◽  
Neutral Position ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Australian Sample

Research exploring gender differences in public attitudes toward parole is limited, despite a large body of literature showing that men and women have diverging views on other criminal justice issues, including capital punishment and offender rehabilitation and treatment. Drawing on an Australian national survey of community views on parole, the current study examines whether men and women differ in their support for the release of prisoners on parole. The results indicate that gender does predict parole attitudes, with Australian women significantly more likely to hold nonsupportive views on parole than Australian men. The results also reveal that women are more likely to take a neutral position toward parole, rather than supporting it. Together, these findings indicate there may be something about being a woman in Australia that prevents one from being willing to support the early release of prisoners. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

Capital Punishment, Retribution, and Emotion

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-290
Author(s):  
Anthony Walsh ◽  
Virginia L. Hatch
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Group Stability ◽  
Normal People ◽  
Capital Cases ◽  
Almost All

This article explores the emotions behind the retributive urge as it applies to the death penalty in the United States. It is argued that the retributive urge is so strong because it engages the most primitive of our emotions, and that these emotions served adaptive purposes over the course of human evolution. Many scholars offended by the retributive instinct insist that we must put emotions aside when discussing the death penalty, even as jurors in death penalty cases, and rely on our rationality. To ask this is to ask what almost all normal people find impossible because the emotions evoked in capital cases (disgust, anger, sympathy for the victim, desire for justice) evolved for the purpose of maintaining group stability and survival by punishing freeloaders. Modern neuroscience has destroyed the traditional notion that rationality and emotion are antagonists. Brain imaging techniques show that they are fully integrated in our brain wiring, and both are engaged in decision making, but when reason and emotion yield conflicting judgments, the latter almost always triumphs. The evolutionary rationales for why emotions conducive to punitive responses for wrongdoers exist are examined.

scholarly journals KEDUDUKAN DAN URGENSI HUKUMAN MATI TERHADAP PENANGGULANGAN PENGEDARAN NARKOTIKA DI INDONESIA DAN SEJUMLAH NEGARA DI DUNIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Zainul Arifin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Young People ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Death Sentence ◽  
Legal Study ◽  
Life Sentence ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

Kedudukan hukuman mati terhadap pengedaran narkotika di Indonesia  sebagai strategi penanggulangan terhadap pengedaran narkotika  masih menimbulkan pihak yang menyetujui dan menolaknya. Pihak yang  menolak hukuman mati dikenakan pada pengedar nakotika dengan alasan hak asasi manusia atau hak keberlanjutan hidup terpidana, sedangkan ada kelompok yang menyetujui pelaksanaan hukuman mati yang juga dengan alasan demi kepentingan hak asasi manusia. Pihak yang menyetujui hukuman untuk pengedar ini menilai, bahwa sanksi yang dikenakan berupa hukuman mati dapat membuat jera atau takut calon-calon pelaku yang bermaksud mengedarkan narkotika atau hak hidup banyak generasi muda ikut diselamatkan menjadi korban kecanduan narkotika akibat ketakutan di kalangan calon-calon penjahat. hukuman mati bagi pengedar narkotika dalam kajian hukum positip sudah diatur dalam Undang-Undang Nomor. 35 tahun 2009 tentang Narkotika.Kata kunci: narkotika, hukuman, akibat, kedudukan, urgensi The death penalty for narcotics distribution in Indonesia as a counter strategy against narcotics distribution still raises those who approve and reject it. Parties that reject the death penalty are imposed on narcotics distributors on the grounds of human rights or the right to a life sentence, while there are groups that approve the execution of the death sentence as well as for the sake of human rights. The party who approved the sentence for the distributor ruled that sanctions imposed on the death penalty could scare or intimidate potential perpetrators who intend to distribute narcotics or livelihoods for many young people to be rescued as victims of narcotics addiction due to fear among potential criminals. the death penalty for narcotics traffickers in a positive legal study is set out in the Law of Numbers. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics. Keywords: narcotics, punishment, consequences, position, urgency

The Carrigan Committee of 1930-31 and the ‘moral condition of the Saorstát’

2001 ◽  
Vol 32 (128) ◽  
pp. 519-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Finnane
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
The State ◽  
Moral Code ◽  
War Of Independence ◽  
National Archives ◽  
Moral Condition ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law

The character of modern Ireland after partition has long been the subject of debate, by columnists, poets, novelists and historians. John Whyte’s outstanding study of the process by which what he called the ‘Catholic moral code’ became enshrined in the ‘law of the state’ summarised the ‘remarkable consensus’ achieved in the years 1923-37, a time when there was ‘overwhelming agreement that traditional Catholic values should be maintained, if necessary by legislation’. Based on personal reminiscences and published documents, Whyte’s contribution is of enduring value to those seeking to understand the culture of modern Ireland. His account is even more impressive when read against the background of materials which have more recently become available in the National Archives. These enable some of the detail to be filled in, but they also provoke some new questions about the state of the country and the means by which a peaceable Ireland was to be constructed in the aftermath of a war of independence and a civil war.

The Influence of Latino Ethnicity on the Imposition of the Death Penalty

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 421-431
Author(s):  
Sheri Lynn Johnson
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Racial Disparities ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Archival Studies ◽  
Related Literature ◽  
History Of ◽  
Modern Era

With respect to African Americans, the history of racial discrimination in the imposition of the death penalty is well-known, and the persistence of racial disparities in the modern era of capital punishment is well-documented. In contrast, the influence of Latino ethnicity on the imposition of the death penalty has been studied very little. A review of the limited literature reveals evidence of discrimination against Latinos. Archival studies generally find ethnicity-of-victim discrimination, and some of those studies find ethnicity-of-defendant discrimination disadvantaging Latino defendants; these findings parallel the findings of the much more robust literature investigating bias against African American defendants and victims. The controlled experimental studies generally show both ethnicity-of-defendant and ethnicity-of-victim discrimination disadvantaging Latinos. Related literature investigating stereotypes, animosity, and discrimination in other criminal justice decisions further suggests the likelihood of ethnicity discrimination in the imposition of capital punishment, as well as the need for further research.

Death and Dignity in American Law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Kaufman
Keyword(s):  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Basic Question ◽  
Legal Cases ◽  
Death Sentences ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Core Feature ◽  
American Law ◽  
Relational Concept ◽  
The Law

Dignity serves many purposes in American law, but the concept is perhaps most vital in decisions on the death penalty. Since 1972, when the Supreme Court briefly banned capital punishment, American jurists have debated whether death sentences violate “the dignity of man.” These legal debates describe dignity as an innately human attribute and a core feature of human nature. In practice, however, courts employ dignity to instantiate a particular model of democratic governance. Legal cases on the death penalty treat dignity as a fundamentally relational concept, less a characteristic of personhood than a state of existing in dialogue with the law. This vision of dignity is more institutional and alienable than conceptions that emphasize unwavering worth. Ultimately, the approach to dignity in death penalty cases displaces an individuated account of the term and raises a basic question about whether dignity can exist in the absence of the law.

Defending the Death Penalty

1980 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Berns
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Human Life ◽  
The Law

The allegedly moral objections to capital punishment are a product of modern amoral political philosophy, from which has derived the modern reluctance to exact retribution. Retribution is demanded by angry and morally indignant people, and, it is said, there is no legitimate basis for this anger and indignation. But anger, as Aristotle demonstrates, is con nected to justice; and, when it is aroused by the sight of crime, it deserves to be rewarded. By punishing the criminal, the law rewards this anger and thereby teaches law-abidingness; by so doing, it promotes respect for those things-such as human life-that the criminal has violated. From retribu tion comes the principle that the punishment should fit the crime, and the only punishment that fits some crimes-for example, some particularly heinous murders-is capital punishment. If human life is to be held in awe, as it should be, the law forbidding the taking of it must be held in awe, and the only way the law can be made awe inspiring is to entitle it to inflict the penalty of death.

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