Book ID: CBB760012973

A Drunkard's Defense: Alcohol, Murder, and Medical Jurisprudence in Nineteenth-Century America (2021)

unapi

Rotunda, Michele (Author)


University of Massachusetts Press


Publication Date: 2021
Physical Details: 216
Language: English

Is drunkenness a defense for murder? In the early nineteenth century, the answer was a resounding no. Intoxication was considered voluntary, and thus provided no defense. Yet as the century progressed, American courts began to extend exculpatory value to heavy drinking. The medicalization of alcohol use created new categories of mental illness which, alongside changes in the law, formed the basis for defense arguments that claimed unintended consequences and lack of criminal intent. Concurrently, advocates of prohibition cast "demon rum" and the "rum-seller" as the drunkard's accomplices in crime, mitigating offenders' actions. By the postbellum period, a backlash, led by medical professionals and an influential temperance movement, left the legacy of an unsettled legal standard. In A Drunkard's Defense, Michele Rotunda examines a variety of court cases to explore the attitudes of nineteenth-century physicians, legal professionals, temperance advocates, and ordinary Americans toward the relationship between drunkenness, violence, and responsibility, providing broader insights into the country's complicated relationship with alcohol.

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Reviewed By

Review David Korostyshevsky (2022) Review of "A Drunkard's Defense: Alcohol, Murder, and Medical Jurisprudence in Nineteenth-Century America". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences (pp. 482-484). unapi

Review David Korostyshevsky (2022) Review of "A Drunkard's Defense: Alcohol, Murder, and Medical Jurisprudence in Nineteenth-Century America". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences (pp. 482-484). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB760012973/

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Authors & Contributors
Thomas Muller
Peschier, Diana
Degerman, Dan
Sara Matthiesen
Arnold, David J.
Guba, David A., Jr.
Concepts
Medicine and society
Medicalization
Alcohol
Public health
Prohibition
Medicine and law
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
20th century, early
21st century
20th century, late
18th century
Places
United States
England
London (England)
Scotland
North Africa
Italy
Institutions
United States. Federal Bureau of Narcotics
American Medical Association
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