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42 Tex. Tech L. Rev. 419 (2009-2010)
Why Did Tinkerbell Get Off So Easy: The Roles of Imagination and Social Norms in Excusing Human Weakness

handle is hein.journals/text42 and id is 423 raw text is: WHY DID TINKERBELL GET OFF SO EASY?: THE ROLES OF IMAGINATION AND SOCIAL NORMS IN EXCUSING HUMAN WEAKNESS Andrew E. Taslitz* I. INTRODUCTION: WHAT TINK CAN TEACH US .................................. 419 A. Imagination and Suffering ........................................................ 419 B. Shoot the W endy! ...................................................................... 421 C. The Dalai Lama and the Definition of Sympathy ..................... 426 II. EMPATHY AND IMAGINATION ............................................................ 431 A. Cognitive Empathy ................................................................... 431 B. Physical and Emotional Empathy ............................................ 436 III. NORMS OF COMPASSION ................................................................... 441 A. Compassion Is a Meta-Emotion ........................................... 442 B. Social Norms: Definition and Motivation ................................ 445 C. Compassion and Social Norms ................................................ 447 D. Compassionate Americans: The Empirical Evidence ............... 450 E. Sympathy Entrepreneurs .......................................................... 455 F. Is Norm-Reliance Wise? ........................................................... 459 IV. INSTITUTIONAL CHOICE ..................................................................... 468 A. Rule Specificity and Institutional Choice: An Overview .......... 468 B. The Roles of the Jury and the Legislature Compared .............. 471 C. Trial Judges .............................................................................. 475 V . C ONCLUSION ..................................................................................... 478 I. INTRODUCTION: WHAT TINK CAN TEACH US A. Imagination and Suffering This Article answers the following question: What is the difference, if any, between complete and partial excuses? My answer: Both turn on the wisdom of extending sympathy to the offender. The difference is merely one of degree, * Welsh S. White Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 2008-09; Professor of Law, Howard University School of Law; Former Assistant District Attorney, Philadelphia, PA; J.D., University of Pennsylvania, 198 1; B.A., Queens College of the City University of New York, 1978. This Article is based upon the author's participation in the 2009 Criminal Law Symposium: Excuses and the Criminal Law, held at Texas Tech University School of Law on April 3, 2009. The author thanks his research assistants at the University of Pittsburgh, Melissa Bancroft and Emily Mari, for their assistance on this project, Professor Arnold Loewy for his invitation to write for this Symposium, and the University of Pittsburgh and the Howard University Schools of Law for their financial support for this project. 419

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