Commonsense justice : jurors' notions of the law / Norman J. Finkel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Finkel, Norman J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Law--United States--Public opinion.

Law.

Jury--United States.

Jury.

Justice.

Common sense.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (390p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 1995.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Norman J. Finkel explores the relationship between the law on the books, as set down in the Constitution and developed in cases and decisions, and what he calls commonsense justice, the ordinary citizen's notions of what is just and fair.

Law is an essentially human endeavour, a collection of psychological theories about why people think, feel, and behave as they do, and when and why we should find some of them blameworthy and punishable. But is it independent of community sentiment, as some would contend? Or do juries bring the community's judgment to bear on the moral blameworthiness of the defendant? When jurors decide that the law is unfair, or the punishment inappropriate for a particular defendant, they have sometimes nullified the law-not to defeat legal authority but "to perfect and complete" it. In this book, Norman J. Finkel explores the relationship between the "law on the books," as set down in the Constitution and developed in cases and decisions, and what he calls "commonsense justice," the ordinary citizen's notions of what is just and fair.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Acknowledgments

Contents

Introduction

1. In Search of Community Sentiment

2. Understanding Nullification

3. Revealing Jurors’ Sentiments

4. How Jurors Construct Reality

5. Objectivity versus Subjectivity in the Law

6. The Sacred Precinct of the Bedroom

7. The Right to Die

8. Cruel and Unusual Punishment

9. Murther Most Foul

10. Death Is Different

11. The Juvenile Death Penalty

12. On Self-Defense Justice

13. The Self-Defense Drama

14. The Maddening Changes in Insanity Law

15. How Jurors Construe Insanity

16. Murderous Passions, Mitigating Sentiments

17. The Path of Commonsense Justice

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [339]-381) and index.

ISBN:

9780674036871

0674036875

OCLC:

923112182