The right of self-defense is seemingly at odds with the general presupposition that killing is wrong; numerous theories have been put forth over the years that attempt to explain how self-defense is consistent with such a presupposition. In Justified Killing: The Paradox of Self-Defense, Whitley Kaufman argues that none of the leading theories adequately explains why it is permissible even to kill an innocent attacker in self-defense, given the basic moral prohibition against killing the innocent. Kaufman suggests that such an explanation can be found in the traditional Doctrine of Double Effect, according to which self-defense is justified because the intention of the defender is to protect himself rather than harm the attacker. Given this morally legitimate intention, self-defense is permissible against both culpable and innocent aggressors, so long as the force used is both necessary and proportionate. Justified Killing will intrigue in particular those scholars interested in moral and legal philosophy.
This comparative study looks at the laws concerning the murder of slaves by their masters and at how these laws were implemented. Andrew T. Fede cites a wide range of cases--across time, place, and circumstance--to illuminate legal, judicial, and other complexities surrounding this regrettably common occurrence. These laws had evolved to limit in different ways the masters' rights to severely punish and even kill their slaves while protecting valuable enslaved people, understood as "property," from wanton destruction by hirers, overseers, and poor whites who did not own slaves. To explore the conflicts of masters' rights with state and colonial laws, Fede shows how slave homicide law evolved and was enforced not only in the United States but also in ancient Roman, Visigoth, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and British jurisdictions. His comparative approach reveals how legal reforms regarding slave homicide in antebellum times, like past reforms dictated by emperors and kings, were the products of changing perceptions of the interests of the public; of the individual slave owners; and of the slave owners' families, heirs, and creditors. Although some slave murders came to be regarded as capital offenses, the laws con-sistently reinforced the second-class status of slaves. This influence, Fede concludes, flowed over into the application of law to free African Americans and would even make itself felt in the legal attitudes that underlay the Jim Crow era.
Do individuals have a positive right of self-defence? And if so, what are the limits of this right? Under what conditions, if any, does this use of force extend to the defence of others? These are some of the issues explored by Dr Uniacke in this comprehensive philosophical discussion of the principles relevant to self-defence as a moral and legal justification of homicide. She establishes a unitary right of self-defence and defence of others, one which grounds the permissibility of the use of necessary and proportionate defensive force against culpable and non-culpable, active and passive, unjust threats. Particular topics discussed include: the nature of moral and legal justification and excuse; natural law justifications of homicide in self-defence; the Principle of Double Effect and the claim that homicide in self-defence is justified as unintended killing; and the question of self-preferential killing. This is a lucid and sophisticated account of the complex notion of justification, revolving around a critical discussion of recent trends in the law of self-defence.
This book, Justifiable Homicide, exams twenty actual criminal cases where a woman has been charged with the crime of murder as the result of a homicide where the victim is a man. What does the criminal justice system do with a woman who is on trial for murder? An interesting question. The answer may surprise any person who reads this book.
Of Mice and Men es una novela escrita por el autor John Steinbeck. Publicado en 1937, cuenta la historia de George Milton y Lennie Small, dos trabajadores desplazados del rancho migratorio, que se mudan de un lugar a otro en California en busca de nuevas oportunidades de trabajo durante la Gran Depresión en los Estados Unidos.
Written by an L. A. County homicide detective and former atheist, Cold-Case Christianity examines the claims of the New Testament using the skills and strategies of a hard-to-convince criminal investigator. Christianity could be defined as a “cold case”: it makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little forensic evidence. In Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally recognized skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Including gripping stories from his career and the visual techniques he developed in the courtroom, Wallace uses illustration to examine the powerful evidence that validates the claims of Christianity. A unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, Cold-Case Christianity inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.
Enter the psyche of a serial killer, a desperate man trapped in a treacherous maze of murder, lies, love, and suspense. The violent love story Justified Murder defines destiny – accepting that which is written – versus fighting for control of one’s life. It is the classic battle between good and evil, only the thin line separating them is not so distinct. This thriller introduces David Hawthorne, a killer who must choose between true love and embracing the dark desires buried in his soul. Raised by a zealot Catholic preacher, David is betrayed by a treacherous woman. After his release from a mental hospital for her killing, a chance encounter leads to murder. Once the flood gates are open, David is compelled to kill again. David uses his dynamic personality as a TV reporter to manipulate viewers into feeling compassion for the killer, and his popularity soars. Unaware of his crimes, District Attorney Melanie Hunter begins a romantic relationship with David. Investigating the murder case is a well-respected detective, Harold Thompson. As the cat and mouse game between them begins, the detective learns that he and David have much in common. Meanwhile, David struggles to keep his three lives separate: his peaceful life with Melanie, his dark life as a serial killer, and his glamorous life as a TV reporter. Will David tame the monster within and live happily ever after with Melanie? Or will Harold bring the killer to justice?
Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest, among both philosophers, legal scholars, and military experts, on the ethics of war. Due in part due to post 9/11 events, this resurgence is also due to a growing theoretical sophistication among scholars in this area. Recently there has been very influential work published on the justificaton of killing in self-defense and war, and the topic of the ethics of war is now more important than ever as a discrete field. The 28 commissioned chapters in this Handbook will present a comprehensive overview of the field as well as make significant and novel contributions, and collectively they will set the terms of the debate for the next decade. Lazar and Frowe will invite the leading scholars in the field to write on topics that are new to them, making the volume a compilation of fresh ideas rather than a rehash of earlier work. The volume will be dicided into five sections: Method, History, Resort, Conduct, and Aftermath. The contributors will be a mix of junior and senior figures, and will include well known scholars like Michael Walzer, Jeff McMahan, and David Rodin.
This is the true-life, roller coaster-ride story of a multi-talented, Earth-toned American singer, musician, and comedian, born and raised in Portland, Oregon, who survived a bullish upbringing that left him with a sense of unworthiness and not belonging, which metastasized into a wall of hopeless resentment and led to a rebellious, systemic journey of grapefruit-sour relationships, including a bogus military-based marriage, followed by a dysfunctional relationship in college, which led to a disastrous internship with the Portland Fire Department. He recognized early on his susceptibility to alcohol, and fell in love with a succession of women well-versed in the art of manipulation, relationships he respectfully describes as strange grapefruits. Having become involved in a biracial romantic entanglement, he relocated to the City of Seaside on the Pacific Northwest Oregon coast, working his way up to the position of supervisor of that city's most popular beachfront hotel. However, he bites off more than he can chew as he is a convenient and continuous target, of police brutality, and endemic, rural-region bullying racism for eleven consecutive months. While attending the post-nuptial reception of a friend, he and the newlywed bride find themselves cornered by an invading gang of racist bikers with murder on their minds, which turns into an all-out melee in the host's kitchen. After forcefully subduing the leader of the pack, he is elevated to instantaneous-hero status by the Seaside Police Department, who do a one-hundred-eighty degree turnabout regarding their treatment of a civilian they now hold in high regard. Despite this newly developed dEtente with the town heat, our plucky protagonist is still faced with another two-and-a-half years of constant death threats from the remainder of the notorious biker gang out of Portland, Oregon, who try to exact their racist revenge when they corner our hero once again. He escapes their clutches through a strange twist of fate, is arrested, charged with another infraction, goes to trial, and is found not guilty, twice, for acting in self-defense; Double jeopardy in a court of law, due to racism in the State of Oregon = Justified License To Kill in the eyes of the law.
Recoge: Murder among nations -- How to talk about self-defense -- A theory of legitimate defense -- The six elements of legitimate defense -- Excusing international aggression -- Humanitarian intervention -- Preemptive and preventitive wars -- The collective dimension of war.
