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SOLON Law, Crime and History (previously SOLON Crimes and Misdemeanours: Deviance and the Law in Historical Perspective)

David Ruth

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Convict author Caryl Chessman was the focus of international attention from 1954 until his 1960 execution at San Quentin. Americans used Chessman to articulate understandings about themselves, their society, and their place in the world. Many used the case to comment on new understandings of behaviour and its modifiability, the apparent post-war rise in juvenile delinquency, and the prospects for individual autonomy in an increasingly conformist society. Cold War concerns profoundly shaped the discourse about Chessman. For some activists, global save-Chessman sentiment pointed to the possibility of transcending bitter international divisions. Execution opponents believed commutation would highlight the progressive social practices essential for winning the Cold War battle for global opinion. Execution supporters decried what they saw as the reluctance of soft, overly sentimental Americans to take the hard steps necessary to protect order in a dangerous world.

Publication Date

2014-01-01

Publication Title

SOLON Law, Crime and History

Volume

4

Issue

3

First Page

31

Last Page

55

ISSN

2045-9238

Deposit Date

April 2017

Embargo Period

2024-10-27

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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