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"Chivalry is Not Dead: Murder, Gender, and the Death Penalty"

By Douglas A. Berman

The title of this post is the title of this notable new paper available via SSRN by Steven Shatz and Naomi Shatz.  Here is the abstract: Chivalry -- that set of values and code of conduct for the medieval knightly class -- has long influenced American law, from Supreme Court decisions to substantive criminal law doctrines and the administration of criminal justice.  The chivalrous knight was enjoined to seek honor and defend it through violence and, in a society which enforced strict gender roles, to show gallantry toward "ladies" of the same class, except for the women of the knight's own household, over whom he exercised complete authority.  This article explores, for the first time, whether these chivalric values might explain sentencing outcomes in capital cases...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on February 25, 2011 (boomark / email).