Qualities of Mercy deals with the history of mercy in criminal justice. The writers probe the discretionary use of power and examine how it has been exercised to spare convicted criminals from the full might of the law. Looking at England, Canada, and Australia in periods when both capital and corporal punishment were still practised, the authors show that, contrary to common assumptions, the past was not a time of unmitigated terror, and they try to determine what inspired restraint in punishment.

Over the past two hundred years, the ability to decide who lived and died - through the exercise or denial of mercy - has tended to reinforce social, economic, and political power structures.

These essays also make an important contribution to current public policy debates. If today's move towards unyielding and harsher punishment proceeds, including the reinstatement of capital punishment, mercy alone will fail to neutralize the inequalities of criminal justice. Only profound cultural shifts will have the force to stem the tide of unprecedented punitiveness that we see today.