Practice Job Talk: Kristen Bell

“Revitalizing Mercy under the Rule of Law”

I distinguish between two concepts of mercy in Western political thought:  beneficent mercy and critical mercy.  To grant beneficent mercy is to compassionately spare someone from harsh treatment that she deserves.  To grant critical mercy is to respond to someone justly when unjust social rules call for a harsher response.  Following Seneca and departing from most contemporary philosophical literature, I focus on the concept of critical mercy.  I argue that most political communities have moral reason to incorporate a general practice of critical mercy into their criminal justice systems.  I argue that judges who exercise critical mercy do not impermissibly derogate from rules in service of personal feelings, but are rather serving the rule of law and fulfilling their obligation to support just institutions.