Purging the Evil from Israel: The Function of the Deuteronomic Formula in Judg 20:13

2021 ◽  
Vol 133 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-455
Author(s):  
Viktor Ber
Keyword(s):  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Deuteronomic Code ◽  
Legal Procedures

Abstract This article argues for the importance of the purging formula in Judg 20:13. In the Deuteronomic Code, this formula provides the motivation for capital punishment in two areas relevant to the Judges narrative: first, apostasy and incitement to it, and, second, the perversion of Deuteronomic legal procedures. This study argues that both motifs are present in and important to Judges’ rendering of the Sodom-like outrage in Gibeah. The first is obvious. With regard to the second, the article argues that the Israelites err in their investigation of the case, and therefore their decisions and subsequent action lead to more violence and confusion. It is further argued that the triple oracular inquiry of YHWH in Judg 20:18–28 is presented as an inadequate substitute for proper forensic adjudication; it therefore does not lead to the establishment of order and justice.

“I'd make thee eat the mischief thou hast vented”: Discourse of Law in Ben Jonson's Catiline His Conspiracy

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-45
Author(s):  
Akihiko Shimizu
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Gunpowder Plot ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Legal Procedures ◽  
The Way

This essay explores the discourse of law that constitutes the controversial apprehension of Cicero's issuing of the ultimate decree of the Senate (senatus consultum ultimum) in Catiline. The play juxtaposes the struggle of Cicero, whose moral character and legitimacy are at stake in regards to the extra-legal uses of espionage, with the supposedly mischievous Catilinarians who appear to observe legal procedures more carefully throughout their plot. To mitigate this ambivalence, the play defends Cicero's actions by depicting the way in which Cicero establishes the rhetoric of public counsel to convince the citizens of his legitimacy in his unprecedented dealing with Catiline. To understand the contemporaneousness of Catiline, I will explore the way the play integrates the early modern discourses of counsel and the legal maxim of ‘better to suffer an inconvenience than mischief,’ suggesting Jonson's subtle sensibility towards King James's legal reformation which aimed to establish and deploy monarchical authority in the state of emergency (such as the Gunpowder Plot of 1605). The play's climactic trial scene highlights the display of the collected evidence, such as hand-written letters and the testimonies obtained through Cicero's spies, the Allbroges, as proof of Catiline's mischievous character. I argue that the tactical negotiating skills of the virtuous and vicious characters rely heavily on the effective use of rhetoric exemplified by both the political discourse of classical Rome and the legal discourse of Tudor and Jacobean England.

America's Lone Star Constitution

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas A. Powe Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Capital Punishment ◽  
School Finance ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Civil Liberty ◽  
Voting Rights ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Relationship

Texas has created more constitutional law than any other state. In any classroom nationwide, any basic constitutional law course can be taught using nothing but Texas cases. That, however, understates the history and politics behind the cases. Beyond representing all doctrinal areas of constitutional law, Texas cases deal with the major issues of the nation. This book charts the rich and pervasive development of Texas-inspired constitutional law. From voting rights to railroad regulations, school finance to capital punishment, poverty to civil liberty, this book provides a window into the relationship between constitutional litigation and ordinary politics at the Texas Supreme Court, illuminating how all of the fiercest national divides over what the Constitution means took shape in Texas.

Capital Punishment: Its Lost Appeal?

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-89
Author(s):  
Christopher P. Ferbrache
Keyword(s):  
Capital Punishment
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