Criminal Justice Ethics articles

Recent articles from Criminal Justice Ethics

Constitutionalizing the harm principle.(Company overview)
June 22, 2008... I Introduction In this paper, I argue that a constitutionalized Harm Principle could ensure that people are not jailed unless they deserve it. I do not aim to outline every possible type of bad consequence beyond harm that might be sufficiently serious to justify criminalization. Instead,...

Direct paternalism: criminalizing self-injurious conduct.(SYMPOSIUM)
January 1, 2008... "Direct" legal paternalism in criminal law refers to the use of criminal sanctions to penalize those who harm or attempt to harm themselves. Here, two questions arise. The first concerns direct paternalism generally: namely, the legitimacy of employing any form of state coercion to prevent a...

Two understandings of morality and their relationship to politics.(SYMPOSIUM)(Interview)
January 1, 2008... I Introduction Of the many strands woven together in George Fletcher's rich and complex book, The Grammar of Criminal Law: American, Comparative and International, Volume One: Foundations (hereafter 'Grammar'), perhaps the most prominent and pervasive is an argument about political and...

The law of duty and the virtue of justice.(SYMPOSIUM)
January 1, 2008... Introduction It is a special pleasure to once again engage in conversation with George Fletcher. Besides being intellectually indebted to him both as a student and young scholar, Fletcher, in person and in work, constantly teaches by his love of ideas and willingness to engage others as...

The nature of crime: a synthesis, following the three perspectives offered in The Grammar of Criminal Law.(SYMPOSIUM)
January 1, 2008... I Introduction In the chapter on criminal theory in his recently published The Grammar of Criminal Law, George Fletcher distinguishes three "different foci for thinking about why conduct qualifies as crime": violating a duty, causing harm, and infringing a norm. (1) According to...