greetings,
a dickens specialist here at the university is seeking to learn more about
a reference in "great expectations" that describes a particular practice
in british courts during the last years of the 18th century and early part
of the 19th century. after a number of trials of individuals for disparate
crimes, the judge brings all the defendants back into the courtroom,
announces his or her guilt or innocence and sentences the guilty parties
as a group.
i've searched a number of databases (legaltrac, lexis-nexis, historical
abstracts, oclc, rlin) under the terms collective sentencing or group
sentencing and found nothing helpful. after perusing various monographs on
british legal history, e.g. radzinowicz, baker, etc., i gather that
capital punishment was the penalty for a vast number of crimes at the time
and this resulted in a major court reform movement. however, i find
nothing that expressly describes this "collective sentencing" practice and
how it might be/is? (my speculation) related to the one size fits all
penalty of death.
if anyone can provide suggestions/references that might illuminate the
practice of "group sentencing", i will be forever in your debt. in
addition to written sources, the faculty member is interested in names of
legal historians who may have an interest/specialty in this area and who
would be willing to confer with him.
thanks,
barbara morgan
Barbara L. Morgan, M.L.S., J.D.
Law Reference Librarian Voice Mail: 413 545-6850
W.E.B. Du Bois Library Email: bmorgan@library.umass.edu
University of Massachusetts Fax: 413 577-1536
Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
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