Murder in the Shenandoah: Making Law Sovereign in Revolutionary Virginia

ISBN-13: 9781108432290 / Angielski / Miękka / 2020 / 224 str.

Jessica K. Lowe

Opis

Jessica K. Lowe tells the story of Commonwealth v. Crane, exposing deep rifts in post-Revolutionary Virginia and using it to unearth Revolutionary America's gripping debates over justice, criminal punishment, and equality before the law. She shows how post-Revolutionary Virginia was gripped by the question of what it means to make law 'sovereign'.

Recenzje

'Lowe has written an engrossing and powerfully argued book that deserves widespread attention.' Yvonne Pitts, Journal of Southern History

Spis treści

Introduction; 1. The facts of the fight; 2. The making of a republican judge; 3. Examination: class, procedure, and local courts in Crane's Virginia; 4. The Bloody Code and the logic of legal reform; 5. Indictment: power shifts and power continuities in Virginia's courts; 6. Crane's trial and its 'imperfect' verdict; 7. 'That stigma on my character': judges, judicial review, and 'republican' interpretation of the laws; 8. Murder or manslaughter? Crane's special verdict at the general court; 9. Pardon request: mercy and Crane's 'lunatic fits'; Conclusion.