Publication

2003-03-27 - Oxford University Press, USA

Language

English

Word Count

84,000 words, Guess

Page Count

336 pages

Identifiers

and 3 more
  • Library of Congress Control Number2002004838
  • LibraryThing934400
  • Goodreads2191464

Classifications

  • LCCK5103.W48 2003

Description

Publisher's description: Criminal punishment in America is harsh and degrading-more so than anywhere else in the liberal west. Executions and long prison terms are commonplace in America. Countries like France and Germany, by contrast, are systematically mild. European offenders are rarely sent to prison, and when they are, they serve far shorter terms than their American counterparts. Why is America so comparatively harsh? In this novel work of comparative legal history, James Whitman argues that the answer lies in America's triumphant embrace of a non-hierarchical social system and distrust of state power which have contributed to a law of punishment that is more willing to degrade offenders.

First Sentence

American punishment is comparatively harsh, comparatively degrading, comparatively slow to show mercy.

Subjects

Other Editions

  • Harsh Justice: Criminal Punishment and the Widening Divide Between America and EuropeOxford University Press, USA2003-03-27

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