Regulation as Punishment
Amsterdam Law School Research Paper No. 2021-26
General Subserie Research Paper No. 2021-01
27 Pages Posted: 8 Jul 2021
Date Written: June 30, 2021
Abstract
Theorists of criminal law widely agree that state punishment involves harsh treatment and stigma and that states must therefore provide protections for targeted individuals. But certain regulatory measures can also be used to impose harsh treatment and stigma. This paper addresses the stigmatic impact of harsh regulatory measures. It argues that harsh regulatory measures that label targeted individuals as risky impose a stigma that has the potential to significantly affect these individual’s personal and professional relationships. Such measures include area restrictions applied to alleged terrorists and registration requirements for convicted sex offenders. I recommend ways of implementing legal safeguards for targeted individuals against the stigma involved in the employment of such measures.
Keywords: punishment, regulatory measures, anti-terrorism measures, sex offender registration, sex offender notification
JEL Classification: K14, K23
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation