Dissertation Information for Paul Thomas Hietter NAME: - Paul Thomas Hietter
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- History
SCHOOL:
- Arizona State University (USA) (1999)
ADVISORS: - Philip VanderMeer
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Noel J. Stowe - Robert A. Trennert Jr.
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: Lawyers, guns, and money: The evolution of crime and criminal justice in Arizona Territory
Abstract: In 1882, enraged Arizona residents seized two suspected murderers from the Gila County jail. By 2:00 a.m. the lifeless bodies of the killers dangled from a sycamore tree. In the aftermath of a double murder, mob justice had prevailed.
Writers often use such sensational anecdotes to describe conditions in the Trans-Mississippi West during the 1800s. The West, these incidents suggest, was a violent and crime-ridden place where ineffective criminal justice institutions forced citizens to take the law into their own hands. But, few historians have attempted a systematic examination of crime and criminal justice in the nineteenth-century West. What types of crimes occurred most often? Who committed them? How effective was the justice system? How did these characteristics change over time?
This study answers these questions within the context of Arizona Territory. It outlines and describes the justice system's different components. Then, it presents a statistical analysis of criminal court cases, prison records, and newspaper stories to determine the prevalence of various crimes, the ability of justice officials to contain crime, and the impact of race on a person's experience in the justice system. This study shows how Arizona residents created and administered the criminal justice system. Contrary to popular perception, crime was not particularly violent, nor was crime itself a particular problem. Arizona Territory's justice system was relatively effective in comparison to other areas of the country. Moreover, racial minorities were treated relatively equally to whites until the decade before statehood.
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MPACT Scores for Paul Thomas Hietter A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-05-04 21:23:45
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