Judicial impartiality and the use of criminal law against labour : the sentencing of workplace appropriators in Northern England, 1840-1880
This article explores the framework of penalties available to magistrates for the punishment of workplace embezzlers ; and the penalties actually imposed on thousands of factory woollen workers in nineteenth-century Yorkshire. That period saw a key shift in the social composition of petty sessions&#...
Enregistré dans:
| Udgivet i: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/chs, |
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| Hovedforfatter: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Sprog: | Anglais |
| Udgivet: |
Crime, Histoire & Sociétés
2009
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| Online adgang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Summary: | This article explores the framework of penalties available to magistrates for the punishment of workplace embezzlers ; and the penalties actually imposed on thousands of factory woollen workers in nineteenth-century Yorkshire. That period saw a key shift in the social composition of petty sessions' courts which raised issues of judicial impartiality. For example, a first glance, the impact of magistrates who were themselves owners of woollen factories on conviction rates for embezzlement seems considerable. Approximately eight out of every ten accused workers who stood in the dock before them were convicted and sentence to a large fine, or one month's imprisonment. This article will explain how such high conviction rates were achieved, and the part that judicial biases may have played in their production. |
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