Merciful Judgments and Contemporary Society: Legal Problems, Legal Possibilities

Merciful Judgments and Contemporary Society: Legal Problems, Legal Possibilities explores the tension between law's need for and dependence on merciful judgments and suspicions that regularly accompany them. Rather than focusing primarily on definitional questions or the longstanding debate about the moral worth and importance of mercy, this book focuses on mercy as a part of, and problem for, law. This book is a product of the University of Alabama School of Law symposia series on 'Law, Knowledge and Imagination'. It explores the ways law is known and imagined in a diverse array of disciplines, including political science, history, cultural studies, philosophy and science. In addition, books produced through the Alabama symposia explore various conjunctions of law, knowledge and imagination as they play out in debates about theory and policy and speak to venerable questions as well as contemporary issues.

1. The place of mercy in legal discourse Robert A. Ferguson; 2. Commentary on Chapter 1: response to Professor Robert A. Ferguson's 'The place of mercy in legal discourse' Jamie Leonard; 3. Mercy, crime control, and moral credibility Paul H. Robinson; 4. Commentary on Chapter 3: thoughts on mercy and self-examination: a response to Paul Robinson William Brewbaker; 5. Defending a role for mercy in a criminal justice system James Staihar and Stephen Macedo; 6. Commentary on Chapter 5: commentary on defending a role for mercy in a criminal justice system Pamela Pierson; 7. Actions of mercy Alice Ristroph; 8. Commentary on Chapter 7: reflections on Alice Ristroph's 'Actions of mercy' Steven H. Hobbs; 9. A feminist view of mercy, judgment, and the 'exception' in the context of transitional justice Susan H. Williams; 10. Commentary on Chapter 9: the interpretative process: feminist reconstructions Timothy Hoff.