Murder on Trial

And Alan Rogers - Editors, Lawrence B. Goodheart, Robert Asher

Description

This fascinating collection examines murder jurisprudence—the social rules that govern the arrest, trial, and punishment of people accused of murder—in the United States from the colonial period to the present. The contributors show how changing social mores have influenced the application of murder law by highlighting the ways cultural biases like racism, changing ideas about childhood and insanity, and the ameliorative effects of middle class status and paternal imagery both helped and handicapped persons accused of murder. Such famous cases as the Lizzie Borden axe murder and African American activist Abu-Jamal's murder trial are included.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Adjudicating Homicide: The Legal Framework and Social Norms
Robert Asher, Lawrence B. Goodheart, and Alan Rogers

Race

2. Cross-Cultural "Murther" and Retribution in Colonial New England
John J. Navin

3. Jim Crow Justice, the Richmond Planet, and the Murder of Lucy Pollard
Michael Ayers Trotti

4. Justice Denied: Race and the 1982 Murder Trial of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Dave Lindorff

Mental Competency

5. Murder and Minors: Changing Standards in the Criminal Law of Connecticut, 1650-1853
Nancy H. Steenburg

6. Murder and Madness: The Ambiguity of Moral Insanity in Nineteenth-Century Connecticut
Lawrence B. Goodheart

7. Mad Men and Wronged Women: Murder and the Insanity Defense in Massachusetts, 1844-2000
Alan Rogers

Gender and Class Norms

8. Murder by Inches: Shakers, Family, and the Death of Elder Caleb Dyer
Elizabeth A. De Wolfe

9. "He Has Ravished my Poor Simple, Innocent Wife!": Exploring the Meaning of Honor in the Murder Trials of George W. Cole
Laura-Eve Moss

10. Bodies of Evidence: Inquest Photography in the Trial of Lizzie Borden
Tiffany Johnson Bidler

List of Contributors

Index

Sujets

• History

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791483619
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Murder on Trial

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Murder on Trial

1620–2002

EDITED BY Robert Asher, Lawrence B. Goodheart, and Alan Rogers

State University of New York Press

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2005 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address the State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production by Diane Ganeles Marketing by Anne M. Valentine

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Murder on trial : 1620–2002 / edited by Robert Asher, Lawrence B. Goodheart, and Alan Rogers p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-6377-X (hardcopy : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-6378-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Murder—United States—History. 2. Homicide—United States—History. I. Asher, Robert. II. Goodheart, Lawrence B., 1944– III. Rogers, Alan, 1936–

HV6524.M876 2005 345.73'02523'09—dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2004009619

To Bruce Fraser and the Connecticut Humanities Council

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Acknowledgments

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. Adjudicating Homicide: The Legal Framework and Social Norms Robert Asher, Lawrence B. Goodheart, and Alan Rogers

Race

Chapter 2. Cross-Cultural “Murther” and Retribution in Colonial New England John J. Navin

Chapter 3. Jim Crow Justice, theRichmond Planet, and the Murder of Lucy Pollard Michael Ayers Trotti

Chapter 4. Justice Denied: Race and the 1982 Murder Trial of Mumia Abu-Jamal Dave Lindorff

Mental Competency

Chapter 5. Murder and Minors: Changing Standards in the Criminal Law of Connecticut, 1650–1853 Nancy H. Steenburg

Chapter 6. Murder and Madness: The Ambiguity of Moral Insanity in Nineteenth-Century Connecticut Lawrence B. Goodheart

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Contents

Chapter 7. Mad Men and Wronged Women: Murder and the Insanity Defense in Massachusetts, 1844–2000 Alan Rogers

Gender and Class Norms

Chapter 8. Murder by Inches: Shakers, Family, and the Death of Elder Caleb Dyer Elizabeth A. De Wolfe

Chapter 9. “He Has Ravished my Poor, Simple, Innocent Wife!”: Exploring the Meaning of Honor in the Murder Trials of George W. Cole Laura-Eve Moss

Chapter 10. Bodies of Evidence: Inquest Photography in the Trial of Lizzie Borden Tiffany Johnson Bidler

List of Contributors

Index

Index of Cases Cited in Text

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Contents

Acknowledgments

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The editors would like to thank the Connecticut Humanities Council for funding the 2001 conference on Murder in New England, Wethersfield His- torical Society, Wethersfield, Connecticut. This volume, whose scope reaches beyond New England, is based on long versions of many of the papers first delivered at that conference. We would also like to thank Beth De Wolfe for her astute advice.

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