Beccaria's On Crimes and Punishments

1764

A young Milanese marquis, writing anonymously, argued that punishment should be proportionate, certain, and never torturous - and that the death penalty was almost never justified. The little book was banned by the Inquisition and translated into every European language. Modern criminal justice reform begins in its 104 pages. Catherine the Great quoted it in her legislative instructions; the American founders studied it while drafting their Bill of Rights.