The Proper Role of the Community in Determining Criminal Liability and Punishment

Abstract:     
This essay argues that community views ought to have a central role in constructing criminal law and punishment rules, for both democratic and crime-control reasons, but ought not to have a role in the adjudication of individual cases. The differences in the American and Chinese debates on these issues are examined and discussed.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 22

Keywords: Empirical desert, moral credibility, stigmatize, vigilantism, social norms, utility of desert, disutility of injustice, community views, retributivism, three-strikes, drug penalties, felony-murder rule, insanity defense, strict liability offenses, American and Chinese debates

working papers series