Requires RealPlayer to view.The University Archives has determined that this item is of continuin... more Requires RealPlayer to view.The University Archives has determined that this item is of continuing value to OSU's history.In recent years, happily, lawmakers, domestic violence activists, and scholars have focused on the right of battered women to be protected from their abusive partners. As part of this trend, some courts have held that a battered woman, especially one who suffers from "battered woman syndrome," who kills her abusive partner while he is asleep, is justified in doing so under the doctrine of self-defense. But, should the law justify such a killing? As sympathetic as the battered woman's claim is, I will argue that the law should not treat such a killing as proper. To do so requires an expansion of the law of self-defense in a direction we will ultimately regret; and the moral argument that it is right to kill a sleeping man is a morally coarsening principle we should reject. This does not mean that a battered woman who kills her sleeping abuser should necessarily be convicted of a crime. I will seek to defend the position that, although such homicides are morally and legally wrong, a woman who kills in such circumstances should be allowed to assert a legal excuse--a claim that her conduct is wrong, but that she is not morally to blame. In the past, lawyers who took this position sought to argue that battered women were insane, but I will suggest a defense that lawyers have ignored, which permits the law to protect the sanctity of human life (even that of the abuser), does not treat the battered woman as "crazy," but which also recognizes a potential basis for legal exculpation for the woman, without sending the wrong moral message. And, throughout this Lecture, I will also try to show why we ought to care what moral message we send through the criminal law.Presentation (00:00:00-00:40:35) -- Questions (00:40:36-0:55:55
This title is a part of our CasebookPlus offering as ISBN 9781634601658. This popular casebook, t... more This title is a part of our CasebookPlus offering as ISBN 9781634601658. This popular casebook, through the selection of classic and modern cases, provides an excellent tool for teaching students the common law foundations of the criminal law and modern statutory reform, including the Model Penal Code. Along the way, the casebook considers modern controversies (e.g., "shaming" punishment, capital punishment, broadening sexual assault law, self-defense by battered women, euthanasia, the role of culture in determining culpability), and creatively uses literature (e.g., examining insanity through Edgar Allen Poe's The-Tell Tale Heart) and even "brain teasers" to confront (as the Preface states) "the Big Questions ...that philosophers, theologians, scientists, and poets, as well as lawyers, have grappled with for centuries." The Seventh Edition, as in the past, includes new cases, as well as updates in the notes that bring current issues of criminal law to the fore. New Power Points have been added to the casebook companion website.
This softcover book contains a complete, unchanged reprint of Chapter 1 and Chapters 11-19 of Dre... more This softcover book contains a complete, unchanged reprint of Chapter 1 and Chapters 11-19 of Dressler and Thomas' Criminal Procedure: Principles, Policies and Perspectives, Fifth Edition . Please see that description for more about the style and approach of this book. The pagination is the same in this softcover book as it is in the hardcover version.
Requires RealPlayer to view.The University Archives has determined that this item is of continuin... more Requires RealPlayer to view.The University Archives has determined that this item is of continuing value to OSU's history.In recent years, happily, lawmakers, domestic violence activists, and scholars have focused on the right of battered women to be protected from their abusive partners. As part of this trend, some courts have held that a battered woman, especially one who suffers from "battered woman syndrome," who kills her abusive partner while he is asleep, is justified in doing so under the doctrine of self-defense. But, should the law justify such a killing? As sympathetic as the battered woman's claim is, I will argue that the law should not treat such a killing as proper. To do so requires an expansion of the law of self-defense in a direction we will ultimately regret; and the moral argument that it is right to kill a sleeping man is a morally coarsening principle we should reject. This does not mean that a battered woman who kills her sleeping abuser should necessarily be convicted of a crime. I will seek to defend the position that, although such homicides are morally and legally wrong, a woman who kills in such circumstances should be allowed to assert a legal excuse--a claim that her conduct is wrong, but that she is not morally to blame. In the past, lawyers who took this position sought to argue that battered women were insane, but I will suggest a defense that lawyers have ignored, which permits the law to protect the sanctity of human life (even that of the abuser), does not treat the battered woman as "crazy," but which also recognizes a potential basis for legal exculpation for the woman, without sending the wrong moral message. And, throughout this Lecture, I will also try to show why we ought to care what moral message we send through the criminal law.Presentation (00:00:00-00:40:35) -- Questions (00:40:36-0:55:55
This title is a part of our CasebookPlus offering as ISBN 9781634601658. This popular casebook, t... more This title is a part of our CasebookPlus offering as ISBN 9781634601658. This popular casebook, through the selection of classic and modern cases, provides an excellent tool for teaching students the common law foundations of the criminal law and modern statutory reform, including the Model Penal Code. Along the way, the casebook considers modern controversies (e.g., "shaming" punishment, capital punishment, broadening sexual assault law, self-defense by battered women, euthanasia, the role of culture in determining culpability), and creatively uses literature (e.g., examining insanity through Edgar Allen Poe's The-Tell Tale Heart) and even "brain teasers" to confront (as the Preface states) "the Big Questions ...that philosophers, theologians, scientists, and poets, as well as lawyers, have grappled with for centuries." The Seventh Edition, as in the past, includes new cases, as well as updates in the notes that bring current issues of criminal law to the fore. New Power Points have been added to the casebook companion website.
This softcover book contains a complete, unchanged reprint of Chapter 1 and Chapters 11-19 of Dre... more This softcover book contains a complete, unchanged reprint of Chapter 1 and Chapters 11-19 of Dressler and Thomas' Criminal Procedure: Principles, Policies and Perspectives, Fifth Edition . Please see that description for more about the style and approach of this book. The pagination is the same in this softcover book as it is in the hardcover version.
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