Harsh justice [electronic resource] : criminal punishment and the widening divide between America and Europe / James Q. Whitman.

Harsh justice [electronic resource] : criminal punishment and the widening divide between America and Europe / James Q. Whitman.

9780198035312 (electronic bk.)
019518260X
9780195182606

New York : Oxford University Press, 2005.

English

1 online resource (viii, 311 pages, 10 pages of plates) : illustrations, portraits

K5103 .W48 2005eb

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.

Originally published: 2003.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 273-299) and index.

Access limited to authorized users.

1460L Lexile

Description based on print version record.

Online Resources > Ebooks
All Resources