Merciful Judgments and Contemporary Society: Legal Problems, Legal Possibilities

323 Pages·2011·1.058 MB·English

by  Austin Sarat

MERCIFULJUDGMENTSANDCONTEMPORARYSOCIETY
Merciful Judgments and Contemporary Society: Legal Problems, Legal Possibilities
exploresthetensionbetweenlaw’sneedforanddependenceonmercifuljudgments
andthesuspicionsthatregularlyaccompanythem.Ratherthanfocusingprimarilyon
definitionalquestionsorthelong-standingdebateaboutthemoralworthandimpor-
tanceofmercy,thisbookfocusesonmercyasapartof,andaproblemfor,law.
Whetheronestartsfromaworryaboutrulesanddiscretion,abouttheattitudesof
citizensandtheirleaders,oraboutwaystoundothepast,mercifuljudgmentschallenge
andperplex,justastheyhelpsustain,ourlegalsystem.Chartingthesepossibilitiesand
problems is the work that this book seeks to do. Here we ask: What challenges do
mercifuljudgmentsposeforlaw?Whenandwhydothosejudgmentsencourageand
nurturelegalingenuityandresourcefulness?Whenandwhydotheyprecipitatecrises
andbreakdownsinlegalauthority?
ThisbookisaproductoftheUniversityofAlabamaSchoolofLaw’ssymposiaseries
Law, Knowledge, and Imagination. This series explores the ways law is known and
imaginedinadiversearrayofdisciplines,includingpoliticalscience,history,cultural
studies,philosophy, andscience. Inaddition, booksproduced throughtheAlabama
symposiaexplorevariousconjunctionsoflaw,knowledge,andimaginationastheyplay
out in debates about theory and policy and speak to venerable questions as well as
contemporaryissues.
AustinSaratisWilliamNelsonCromwellProfessorofJurisprudencePoliticalScience
atAmherstCollegeandJusticeHugoL.BlackSeniorFacultyScholarattheUniversity
ofAlabamaSchoolofLaw.Heisauthororeditorofmorethanseventybooks,includ-
ing The Road to Abolition? The Future of Capital Punishment in the United States;
TheKillingState:CapitalPunishmentinLaw,Politics,andCulture;WhentheState
Kills:CapitalPunishmentandtheAmericanCondition;TheCulturalLivesofCapital
Punishment: Comparative Perspectives; Law, Violence, and the Possibility of Justice;
Pain,Death,andtheLaw;MercyonTrial:WhatItMeanstoStopanExecution;When
LawFails:MakingSenseofMiscarriagesofJustice;andthetwo-volumeCapitalPun-
ishment.SaratiseditorofthejournalLaw,CultureandtheHumanitiesandStudies
in Law, Politics and Society. He is currently writing a book titled Hollywood’s Law:
Film,Fatherhood,andtheLegalImagination.HisbookWhenGovernmentBreaksthe
Law:ProsecutingtheBushAdministrationwasrecognizedasoneofthebestbooksof
2010bytheHuffingtonPost.InMay2008ProvidenceCollegeawardedSaratwithan
honorary degree in recognition of his pioneering work in the development of legal
studyintheliberalartsandhisdistinguishedscholarshiponcapitalpunishmentinthe
UnitedStates.

Merciful Judgments and
Contemporary Society
LEGAL PROBLEMS, LEGAL POSSIBILITIES
Edited by
Austin Sarat
AmherstCollege
cambridge university press
Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,
Singapore,Sa˜oPaulo,Delhi,Tokyo,MexicoCity
CambridgeUniversityPress
32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107008434
(cid:2)C CambridgeUniversityPress2012
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2012
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Sarat,Austin.
Mercifuljudgmentsandcontemporarysociety:legalproblems,legal
possibilities/AustinSarat.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-00843-4(hardback)
1.Criminaljustice,Administrationof–Moralandethicalaspects.
2.Lawandethics. 3.Transitionaljustice. I.Title.
k5001.s27 2011
340(cid:3).112–dc23 2011025091
isbn978-1-107-00843-4Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor
accuracyofurlsforexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtoin
thispublicationanddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsites
is,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
ToStephanie, withgratitude forherabiding love,andtoBen,for
thejoyhebringsintomylife.

Contents
Acknowledgments pageix
Contributors xi
When Can or Should Legal Judgment Be Merciful?
An Introduction 1
AustinSarat
1 The Place of Mercy in Legal Discourse 19
RobertA.Ferguson
Commentary on Chapter 1: Response to “The Place
of Mercy in Legal Discourse” 83
JamesLeonard
2 Mercy, Crime Control, and Moral Credibility 99
PaulH.Robinson
Commentary on Chapter 2: Thoughts on Mercy and
Self-Examination 124
WilliamS.BrewbakerIII
3 Defending a Role for Mercy in a Criminal Justice
System 138
JimStaiharandStephenMacedo
Commentary on Chapter 3: Commentary on
“Defending a Role for Mercy in a Criminal Justice
System” 195
PamelaBucyPierson
vii
viii Contents
4 Actions of Mercy 205
AliceRistroph
Commentary on Chapter 4: Reflections on
“Actions of Mercy” 234
StevenH.Hobbs
5 A Feminist View of Mercy, Judgment, and the
“Exception” in the Context of Transitional Justice 247
SusanH.Williams
Commentary on Chapter 5: The Interpretative
Process: Feminist Reconstructions 291
TimothyHoff
Index 305
Acknowledgments
ThisvolumeistheproductofasymposiumheldattheUniversity
24 2010
ofAlabamaSchoolofLawonSeptember , .Iwanttothank
the colleagues, students, and staff who helped make that such a
successful event. I am grateful for the financial support of the
University of Alabama Law School Foundation. A special word
of thanks to Dean Ken Randall for his unstinting support, for
sharing the vision of legal scholarship reflected in these pages,
andformakingmefeelsoathomeatthelawschool.
ix