Description
Book SynopsisPublished in 1764, On Crimes and Punishments by Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) courted both success and controversy in Europe and North America. Enlightenment luminaries and enlightened monarchs alike lauded the text and looked to it for ideas that might help guide the various reform projects of the day. The equality of every citizen before the law, the right to a fair trial, the abolition of the death penalty, the elimination of the use of torture in criminal interrogations—these are but a few of the vital arguments articulated by Beccaria.
This volume offers a new English translation of On Crimes and Punishment alongside writings by a number of Beccaria's contemporaries. Of particular interest is Voltaire's commentary on the text, which is included in its entirety. The supplementary materials testify not only to the power and significance of Beccaria's ideas, but to the controversial reception of his book. At the same time that philosophes proclaimed th
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments Foreword by Bryan Stevenson Preface by Aaron Thomas Introduction: Between Law and Politics - The Idea of Equality in On Crimes and Punishments by Alberto Burgio PART I On Crimes and Punishments PART II Contemporary Reactions to On Crimes and Punishments Ferdinando Facchinei, from Notes and Observations on the Book Entitled 'On Crimes and Punishments' (1765) Pietro and Alessandro Verri, from Response to a Writing Entitled 'Notes and Observations on the Book "On Crimes and Punishments"' (1765) Voltaire, Commentary on the Book On Crimes and Punishments, by a Provincial Lawyer (1766) PART III Revisiting the Death Penalty Opinion of the Undersigned Members of the Committee Charged with the Reform of the Criminal System in Austriam Lombardy for Matters Pertaining to Capital Punishment
