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Full-Text Articles in Law
Revisiting Beccaria's Vision: The Enlightenment, America's Death Penalty, And The Abolition Movement, John Bessler
Revisiting Beccaria's Vision: The Enlightenment, America's Death Penalty, And The Abolition Movement, John Bessler
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In 1764, Cesare Beccaria, a 26-year-old Italian criminologist, penned On Crimes and Punishments. That treatise spoke out against torture and made the first comprehensive argument against state-sanctioned executions. As we near the 250th anniversary of its publication, law professor John Bessler provides a comprehensive review of the abolition movement from before Beccaria's time to the present. Bessler reviews Beccaria's substantial influence on Enlightenment thinkers and on America's Founding Fathers in particular. The Article also provides an extensive review of Eighth Amendment jurisprudence and then contrasts it with the trend in international law towards the death penalty's abolition. It then discusses …
Injustice Casts Shadow On History Of State Executions, John Bessler
Injustice Casts Shadow On History Of State Executions, John Bessler
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This article, published in the StarTribune of Minneapolis, discusses the history of lynchings and executions in the State of Minnesota. It specifically discusses miscarriages of justice that have taken place in Minnesota, along with highlighting other problems associated with capital punishment.
The “Midnight Assassination Law” And Minnesota’S Anti-Death Penalty Movement, John Bessler
The “Midnight Assassination Law” And Minnesota’S Anti-Death Penalty Movement, John Bessler
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This article traces the history of Minnesota's anti-death penalty movement and the 1889 Minnesota law - dubbed by contemporaries as the "midnight assassination law" - requiring private, nighttime executions. That law, authored by Minnesota legislator John Day Smith, restricted the number of execution spectators, prohibited newspapers from printing any execution details, and provided that only the fact of the execution could be lawfully printed. Also commonly referred to as the "John Day Smith law," this Minnesota statute was challenged as being unconstitutional by Minnesota newspapers after those newspapers printed details of a botched hanging and were charged with violating the …
The Public Interest And The Unconstitutionality Of Private Prosecutors, John Bessler
The Public Interest And The Unconstitutionality Of Private Prosecutors, John Bessler
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This article discusses the history of private and public prosecution in the United States, including standards governing prosecutorial ethics. It argues that the use of private prosecutors is unethical and violative of defendants' constitutional rights. In particular, the article asserts that the use of such prosecutors violates due process principles and creates, at the very least, an unacceptable appearance of impropriety. The article contends that the public's interest in not having its members erroneously charged or convicted in the criminal process outweighs an interested party's right to retain a private prosecutor as set forth in some state laws. In addition …