Books by Austin Sarat

On January 11, 2003, Illinois Governor George Ryan--a Republican on record as saying that "e;some crimes are so horrendous . . . that society has a right to demand the ultimate penalty"e;--commuted the capital sentences of all 167 prisoners on his state's death row. Critics demonized Ryan. For opponents of capital punishment, however, Ryan became an instant hero whose decision was seen as a signal moment in the "e;new abolitionist"e; politics to end killing by the state. In this compelling and timely work, Austin Sarat provides the first book-length work on executive clemency. He turns our focus from questions of guilt and innocence to the very meaning of mercy. Starting from Ryan's controversial decision, Mercy on Trial uses the lens of executive clemency in capital cases to discuss the fraught condition of mercy in American political life. Most pointedly, Sarat argues that mercy itself is on trial. Although it has always had a problematic position as a form of "e;lawful lawlessness,"e; it has come under much more intense popular pressure and criticism in recent decades. This has yielded a radical decline in the use of the power of chief executives to stop executions. From the history of capital clemency in the twentieth century to surrounding legal controversies and philosophical debates about when (if ever) mercy should be extended, Sarat examines the issue comprehensively. In the end, he acknowledges the risks associated with mercy--but, he argues, those risks are worth taking.

Bringing together the work of scholars in anthropology, law, literary studies, philosophy, and political theory, this book includes essays that show how state and private bureaucracies play crucial roles in fashioning forms of responsibility, which they then enjoin on populations.

Discusses why the US legal system makes so many mistakes

Presenting a diverse array of articles by an interdisciplinary group of scholars, this work covers social science disciplines and law. Some articles in this issue examine the interactions of law and "vulnerable" populations. Other articles focus on indigenous groups and particular legal controversies in which they are involved.

Uncovers the ways that race influences capital punishment, and attempts to situate the linkage between race and the death penalty in the history of America, in particular the history of lynching. This book looks at how the death penalty gives meaning to race, as well as why the racialization of the death penalty is uniquely American.

Arguing that the capital punishment must be stopped, this book exposes us to the realities of state killing and examines its foundations in ideas about revenge and retribution. It takes us inside the courtroom of a capital trial, and presents interviews with jurors and lawyers who make decisions about life and death.