This text explores the issues surrounding acts of clemency - what justifies pardoning, who should be pardoned, and the definition of an unforgivable crime. Several historical case studies are taken as examples of the use and misuse of clemency.

"Extraordinarily engaging reading! Once I got started, I couldn't put it down...Not only is there nothing like it in modern philosophical literature--despite a great volume of material on punishment--but it is of very high philosophical quality."--Claudia Card, University of Wisconsin "In her exhaustive and scholarly study, [Moore] challenges...conventional wisdom....The thoughtful mind is made aware by Ms. Moore's thorough history of how much injustice has been perpetrated in the name of selectively applied mercy."--Alan Dershowitz, New York Times Book Review "Moore's careful analysis of the significance of pardons and the need to limit the freedom with which they are granted is timely and interesting."--Harvard Law Review "An excellent book on an ever-current topic of great value to constitutional scholars and practitioners alike....Readable...and fascinating, [it provides]...valuable new analysis into one of the murkier and most emotion-laden areas of constitutional law."--Maine Bar Journal "Moore has made an important contribution to punishment theory in general and to an all too frequently neglected aspect of punishment in particular, namely, the role of the pardon in the criminal justice system....Should be read by anyone interested in crime and punishment."--Choice "Extraordinarily engaging reading! Once I got started, I couldn't put it down...Not only is there nothing like it in modern philosophical literature--despite a great volume of material on punishment--but it is of very high philosophical quality."--Claudia Card, University of Wisconsin "An important contribution....This book should be read by anyone interested in crime and punishment. All terms, concepts, and arguments are clearly defined and logically developed....Highly recommended."--Choice