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Crime, Sexual Violence, and Clemency: Florida's Pardon Board and Penal System in the Progressive Era
Overview
From the foreword:
"Vivien Miller's highly original study of crime, punishment, and clemency in late 19th- and early 20th-century Florida unravels the complex intersection of class, race, gender, and power in that state's criminal justice system as the new century dawned. . . . [It] opens an insightful window to the tensions and anxieties of a state caught in the throes of social change and their impact on traditional racial and gendered hierarchies. . . . Readers will find this book the most thorough analysis of the inner workings of the clemency process in a southern state. Balanced and judicious."
From 1889 to 1918, more than 11,000 persons were convicted and sentenced to the hard labor camps of Florida's piney woods region. Vivien Miller presents the first intensive examination of the workings of Florida's pardon board and penal system during this period, often called the Progressive Era.
Whereas most previous works on southern crime and criminal justice have focused on the arrest, trial, and sentencing stages, Miller instead follows cultural prejudices through the workings of the penal system and pardon board. She explains how such notions as "respectability" and "proper" behavior were interpreted, selectively applied, and finally considered to be of paramount importance in evaluating clemency appeals.
By comparing letters, petitions, and endorsements from prisoners and their supporters, Miller demonstrates that Florida's criminal law and its prosecution often functioned as an ideological instrument reinforcing white middle-class male dominance and restricting the freedom of African Americans and others in the lower socioeconomic stratum of society. She also explores the effects of gender, race, and class on offenders after conviction and sentencing.
This book will be an important source of information for scholars interested in the workings of criminal justice during the era, as well as for anyone interested in the history that lies behind current debates on crime and punishment.
Vivien Miller is associate professor of American history at the University of Nottingham, UK. |
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