{"title":"Mitigation for a Murderer","authors":"Craig J. Forsyth","doi":"10.1007/s12103-024-09761-z","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In this paper the role of a sociologist/criminologist as a mitigation expert in a case of double murder is examined. The defendant was a young black male defendant. The victims were his 8-month pregnant girlfriend and their unborn child. The defendant was born into terrible social circumstances; including five generations of violence; sexual abuse; incarcerated; and neglect. The circumstances of his tragic life leading up to the murder is presented as mitigation. The author of this paper has worked as a sociologist/ mitigation expert for almost 30 years in over 300 sentencing hearings/penalty phases most of which were capital murder but have also included manslaughter, habitual offenders, Miller cases; and other cases of violent crimes where the sentence is plastic. The utility of sociology in criminal cases in general is discussed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51509,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Criminal Justice","volume":"49 3","pages":"422 - 434"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Journal of Criminal Justice","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12103-024-09761-z","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In this paper the role of a sociologist/criminologist as a mitigation expert in a case of double murder is examined. The defendant was a young black male defendant. The victims were his 8-month pregnant girlfriend and their unborn child. The defendant was born into terrible social circumstances; including five generations of violence; sexual abuse; incarcerated; and neglect. The circumstances of his tragic life leading up to the murder is presented as mitigation. The author of this paper has worked as a sociologist/ mitigation expert for almost 30 years in over 300 sentencing hearings/penalty phases most of which were capital murder but have also included manslaughter, habitual offenders, Miller cases; and other cases of violent crimes where the sentence is plastic. The utility of sociology in criminal cases in general is discussed.
期刊介绍：
The American Journal of Criminal Justice, the official journal of the Southern Criminal Justice Association, is a peer reviewed publication; manuscripts go through a blind review process. The focus of the Journal is on a wide array of criminal justice topics and issues. Some of these concerns include items pertaining to the criminal justice process, the formal and informal interplay between system components, problems and solutions experienced by various segments, innovative practices, policy development and implementation, evaluative research, the players engaged in these enterprises, and a wide assortment of other related interests. The American Journal of Criminal Justice publishes original articles that utilize a broad range of methodologies and perspectives when examining crime, law, and criminal justice processing.
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