Would You Convict?: Seventeen Cases That Challenged the Law
Are bad intentions punishable by law? Should a criminal be absolved of a crime if, in the end, that crime somehow benefits society? Is ignorance of the law an excuse for breaking it? The courts grapple with such issues daily. To maintain its moral credibility, argues Robinson (law, Northwestern Univ.), criminal law must guard against any wide discrepancies between deserved and imposed punishment. Here he offers 17 cases that have challenged the law's credibility, giving readers the chance to compare their decisions with those of several hundred persons he has polled and with the decisions of the courts. The result is fascinating reading. However, with almost a third of the book devoted to an appendix of applicable statutes and with a somewhat academic discussion of each case, this is really not suited to the average Court TV fan. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.AJim G. Burns, Ottumwa P.L., IACopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.