NCJ Number
187162
Journal
Criminal Justice Ethics Volume: 19 Issue: 2 Dated: Summer/Fall 2000 Pages: 32-43
Date Published
2000
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This essay critiques the arguments of Randy E. Barnett in his book, "The Structure of Liberty," in which he advocates a libertarian alternative to liberal justice.
Abstract
Although this essay is critical of many features of Barnett's libertarian alternative to classical liberalism, his book combines a thorough knowledge of the legal system with an intelligent, original, and thoughtful legal and political theory. Although the essay concludes that the liberal project remains more promising than Barnett's libertarian alternative, the author concludes that libertarian justice is the most defensible alternative to some form of liberalism. Barnett believes that the classical liberal project of establishing a limited State, authorized to coerce violators of rights according to the rule of law but itself limited by justice and law, and regulating extensive public spaces, has failed. As a former prosecutor, he believes that the State fails to protect the innocent, ignores the rights of victims when it does deal with crime, has effectively broken out of the limits that classical liberals sought to impose, and has left society with dangerous public spaces largely controlled by criminals. He proposes that an essentially privatized justice delivery system would provide better service than the State's monopoly on justice processes. Although there is much truth in Barnett's critique of the current state of justice, it misses much. Although it may not be popular among academics to say so, increasing numbers of people have freedoms and prosperity undreamed of a hundred years ago. It is precipitous to call a failure the experiment of establishing a just government that safeguards a free society and then commit to pursue Barnett's radical alternative. 24 notes