1Giovanni Carmignani to Thomas Jefferson, 7 April 1816 (Jefferson Papers)
. Although he published an essay defending the death penalty in 1795, he later retracted that position, even refusing a judgeship in 1808 because of his opposition to capital punishment. Carmignani became a professor of public law at the University of Pisa, taught criminal law for much of his career, and in 1840 assumed a new professorship in legal philosophy at