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Unwritten Law: Criminal Justice in Victorian Kent

NCJ Number
134111
Author(s)
C A Conley
Date Published
1991
Length
253 pages
Annotation
Information from official records and local newspapers were used to examine the ways in which the values and priorities of the local community influenced case processing and sentencing in the criminal courts of Kent, England between 1859 and 1880.
Abstract
Results showed that whether a particular action was defined and handled as a crime depended on several factors, of which the written law was often the least important. The guarantees of due process made it highly unlikely that an innocent person would be convicted, but the discretionary powers given to police personnel, justices of the peace, trial judges, and juries made it possible for law violations to be considered non-criminal. The criminality of an offense was determined according to the age, gender, and social status of both the victim and the accused. Depending on the circumstances, identical acts might be punished with a heavy sentence, considered a minor infraction or totally ignored. Although socioeconomic class had a significant role in judicial decisions, explanations usually focused on respectability and community. A sense of tradition and continuity prevailed in the criminal justice system and the men who ran it. Tables, chapter notes, index, and reference lists

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