Lynne N. Henderson

Lynne Nesbit Henderson is an American legal scholar. She is Emerita Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law. Quotes The Wrongs of Victim's Rights (1985) "The Wrongs of Victim's Rights", Stanford Law Review 937 (1985) What referents exist for determining "wickedness" or "moral evil voluntarily done"? A moral code in one culture may be vastly different from that in another. Similarly, the "wickedness" of a given act may be greater in one society than in another. p. 991, footnote; cf. H. L. A. Hart, Punishment and Responsibility (1968), p. 231 One meaning of retribution is associated with a theory of moral blameworthiness that justifies punishment. . . . defendants must pay a "debt" to society to make amends for their wrongs. The other, perhaps more automatic meaning of retribution is simply that of revenge: Society has a right to retaliate against those who have hurt it or failed to follow its rules. . . . Recent victim's rights proposals appear to be driven more by the retaliatory view of retribution than by the moral aspect of retribution. The victim who participates in sentencing might further the ends of the retribution-as-vengeance theory by providing specific and graphic information about the crime-information that will provoke outrage. pp. 991, 994 . . . although it may be proper to be angered by evil acts, it is not at all self-evident that vengeance or retaliation is the only available or appropriate response for channeling society's outrage — another perfectly appropriate response to outrage would be to renew efforts to prevent violent crimes. . . . Whatever community feeling does exist could be reflected in ways other than vengeance — for example, through jury condemnation, police and prosecutorial discretion, and legislative determination of penalties. p. 995 Disaster victims often try to assign responsibility for an evil, many times in a way that relieves them of responsibility for the outcome. Thus, victims of crimes often blame the perpetrator, "the system," the police, the district attorney, the defense lawyer, or all of them for the victim's agonies. But blame does not relieve a victim of responsibility for the criminal act, if any, and for what he or she chooses to do about it. p. 997 External links Q141742284 Category:Living people Category:Academics from the United States