NCJ Number
100667
Editor(s)
J R Pennock,
J W Chapman
Date Published
1985
Length
375 pages
Annotation
Based on papers presented at the 1983 meeting of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy, 14 essays discuss the moral and metaphysical sources of the criminal law, retributive theory, criminal responsibility in government, and the economic theory of criminal law.
Abstract
Essays dealing with the moral and metaphysical sources of the criminal law trace criminal law concepts to metaphysical values and examine the concepts of intentionality and the person in Western and Moroccan (Islamic) criminal law. Essays pertaining to retributive theory discuss classification-based sentencing as expressive of retributive theory, steps for applying retributive theory to the setting of statutory penalties, retributivism as a compelling state interest, and the requirement that criminal liability involve a ''motivational fault' in the agent. Papers on criminal responsibility in government note the difficulty of establishing such responsibility under traditional criminal law and develop concepts to facilitate the prosecution of crime in government institutions. Essays on the economic theory of criminal law discuss the limited extent to which the economic theory of crime has penetrated mainstream legal theory and what economic analysis requires if it is to have a greater impact on criminal law. Chapter notes, 360-item bibliography, and subject index.