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majority of judges at the time did not believe that stating "may God have mercy on your soul" had any meaning unless the accused had made a confession of the crime in open court. They, and other
Puritan office holders, would also regularly press the condemned up until the point of execution to make a
84:
Depending on where it is used, the phrase has had different emphasis through the years. It was formally intended as a prayer for the soul of the condemned. However, in later times, particularly in the United States, it has only been said as a result of legal tradition where the religious meaning and
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16:18 where it stated: "Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, tribe by tribe; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment". This gave rise to the theory that judges had been given authority from God to exercise judgment on matters
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whenever they said the phrase as a result of concern for the criminal's soul as they said it as a prayer. While the phrase is intended to be said by judges with conviction, it is also said because of legal tradition and not necessarily due to belief in its meaning. During the 17th century in the
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have stated that the phrase's continual usage may have come about as a result of judges feeling that while they could pass a sentence of death upon a person, they personally did not have the authority to destroy souls and that only God had the authority to do that. As a result, some judges would
117:
In the 18th century, the common wording of the phrase in
England was "the law is that thou shalt return to the place whence thou camest and from thence to a place of execution where thou shalt hang by the neck till the body be dead. Dead. Dead. And the Lord have mercy upon thy soul". This phrase
101:
sitting, which indicated there had been no death sentence passed during the Assize. The wording of the traditional phrase has changed over time. In
England, the wording in the 18th century was "and the Lord have mercy upon thy soul". This later developed into "may God have mercy upon your soul",
126:
The sentence of this court is that you will be taken from here to the place from whence you came and there be kept in close confinement until , and upon that day that you be taken to the place of execution and there hanged by the neck until you are dead. And may God have mercy upon your
190:, the judge used the phrase but immediately followed it with a statement that the court would not be responsible for asking "an all wise providence" to do something the jury could not do due to the American principle of
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morality-based trials. Despite this, "may God have mercy on your soul" has been used as a closing statement in modern times by
American judges when passing a sentence of death. Sometimes as it is mandated by
198:", the phrases "not having the fear of God before your eyes" and "may God have mercy upon your soul" were the very few remainders within the American court system of the
449:
A Justification of the
Dissenters Against Mr. Bennet's, Charge of Damnable Schisme by a Divine of the Church of England. With a Short Preface by Another Hand
194:. In the 19th century, due to American law moving away from moral judgments based on Christian principles towards the principle of a judgment that was "
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In the United States, following independence from Great
Britain, the phrase was not commonly used. However, when the first death sentence was passed in
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confession of the crime they had been convicted of to ensure that the phrase satisfactorily had meaning according to their views.
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in beth din courts as a way of giving credence to the authority of God as the author of all law. It is likely to have come from
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and black gloves. In
England, the black gloves were a deliberate contrast with the white gloves normally worn at the end of an
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of the law and would use the phrase to attribute this fact to God. The phrase continued to be used in courts, passing from
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which was used as the traditional closing sentence by judges passing the death sentence in
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was sentenced to death, the judge in this case stated "and may God have mercy on your corpse".
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The phrase is used by the presiding judge pronouncing the sentence of death after putting on a
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114:". Newspaper reports would cite the usage of the phrase as "the usual words had been said".
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upon a person found guilty of a crime that carries a death sentence. The phrase originated in
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565:"Chicago Law Journal Weekly". Vol. 1. Law journal print. 1896. p. 61.
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The phrase is likely to have originated in the
Kingdom of Israel following the
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context as a way to continue to affirm God as the highest authority in law.
110:. The phrase is treated as a prayer and would traditionally be followed by "
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as the highest authority in law. The usage of the phrase later spread to
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77:' legal system and from there to usage throughout the colonies of the
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283:. Vol. 89. American Unitarian Association. 1910. p. 1159.
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62:
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Hunsuck, John (2014). "2: Covenant to
Covenant, Moses to Jesus".
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Closing Arguments: Clarence Darrow on Religion, Law, and Society
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580:(reprint ed.). University of Georgia Press. p. 38.
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later developed over time until the 1940s when the phrase in
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Frontier Stories: A New Mexico Federal Writers' Project Book
498:(H. Howe reprint ed.). Harvard University. p. 195.
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Deadly Justice: A Statistical Portrait of the Death Penalty
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678:
Wretched Sisters: Examining Gender and Capital Punishment
369:(Motion picture). England, UK: British Screen Production.
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470:(reprint ed.). Ohio University Press. p. 156.
513:. Rotary International. November 1933. p. 61.
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630:. University of Massachusetts Press. p. 78.
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578:Criminal Justice in Colonial America, 1606-1660
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496:Institutes of the Christian Religion, Volume 3
16:Phrase used on pronouncement of death sentence
628:Murder and the Death Penalty in Massachusetts
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426:"Deuteronomy 16 / Hebrew–English Bible"
363:Peter Medak (director) (12 September 1991).
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237:. American Ethical Union. 1960. p. 56.
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655:. Oxford University Press. p. 140.
384:. Vol. 168. H. Colburn. p. 41.
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51:May God have mercy upon your soul
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309:. W. W. Norton & Company
33:) was sentenced to death by
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680:. Peter Lang. p. 192.
651:Baumgardner, Frank (2018).
382:The United Service Magazine
122:of the British Empire was:
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732:American legal terminology
532:O'Donovan, Oliver (1999).
342:. UBC Press. p. 161.
338:Leyton-Brown, Ken (2010).
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727:English legal terminology
466:Darrow, Clarence (2005).
31:leaning on the dock, left
712:Quotations from religion
576:Chapin, Bradley (2010).
536:From Irenaeus to Grotius
176:Massachusetts Bay Colony
509:"Capital Punishment?".
402:Hinge Points of History
196:beyond reasonable doubt
188:Taos County, New Mexico
280:The Christian Register
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69:as a way to attribute
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25:In 1912, the poisoner
676:Atwell, Mary (2007).
626:Alan, Rogers (2008).
494:Calvin, Jean (1816).
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307:"May God Have Mercy"
171:cross their fingers
35:Mr Justice Bucknill
601:Lacy, Ann (2010).
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717:Legal terminology
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142:Deuteronomy
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313:2016-01-23
259:2015-04-02
219:References
37:wearing a
519:0035-838X
289:2158-1622
205:state law
151:Christian
120:Dominions
108:Australia
95:black cap
39:black cap
163:Chicago
161:and the
63:beth din
209:Florida
180:Puritan
132:History
89:Wording
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178:, the
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104:Canada
99:Assize
53:" or "
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43:right
682:ISBN
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632:ISBN
607:ISBN
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515:ISSN
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344:ISBN
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112:amen
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71:God
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