Yale Law Library Series in Legal History and Reference

Yale Law Library Series in Legal History and Reference Séries

Cette série plonge dans la riche tapisserie de l'histoire juridique, offrant des explorations savantes des concepts et institutions juridiques fondamentaux. Elle examine l'évolution de la pensée et de la pratique juridiques à travers différentes époques et cultures, fournissant un contexte crucial pour comprendre la jurisprudence contemporaine. La collection sert de référence indispensable aux universitaires, aux professionnels du droit et à toute personne intéressée par les fondements historiques du droit.

Ordre de lecture recommandé

The Origins of Reasonable Doubt

James Q. Whitman

288pages
11 heures de lecture

3,5(2)Évaluer

To be convicted of a crime in the United States, a person must be proven guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt." But what is reasonable doubt? Even sophisticated legal experts find this fundamental doctrine difficult to explain. In this accessible book, James Q. Whitman digs deep into the history of the law and discovers that we have lost sight of the original purpose of "reasonable doubt." It was not originally a legal rule at all, he shows, but a theological one. The rule as we understand it today is intended to protect the accused. But Whitman traces its history back through centuries of Christian theology and common-law history to reveal that the original concern was to protect the souls of jurors. In Christian tradition, a person who experienced doubt yet convicted an innocent defendant was guilty of a mortal sin. Jurors fearful for their own souls were reassured that they were safe, as long as their doubts were not "reasonable." Today, the old rule of reasonable doubt survives, but it has been turned to different purposes. The result is confusion for jurors, and a serious moral challenge for our system of justice.