CRIMINAL LAWLecture 8/24

Send email with name in subject line and criminal law and tell about yourself- where you went to undergrad, any connection to crim law (work experience)

Bring name cards to class

Theories of Punishment 3 famous questions: why do we punish, who, and how In US we used incarceration as punishment US has highest number of incarceration in world, and highest per capita; has skyrocketed

since 80s Has been subject of debate We answer these questions through incarceration Different sentencing theories:

1) utilitarianism: punishment should serve useful purpose, punishment is unpleasant; goal > harm

-Jeremy Betham-4 types:

*general deterrence- punishment sends a message and discourages others*individual deterrence- encourages indiv. Not to do it again

-change behavior b/c youre afraid of being punished again*incapacitation- prevent them from doing more harm*reform/rehabilitation- person can learn through their mistakes by

becoming more productive-changes your character-fell out of favor in 1970s, replaced with retributive-what works? And when is it fair to offer it?

*marginal deterrence- ex: if you steal $5 or more, get 100 year prison sentence; person who might have wanted to steal $5 now might

steal $5000 -whether or not deterrence works is a complicated question-its the certainty of punishment, not the length, that can make the difference in deterrence-if you get to high enough rate of incarceration in a city it can actually cause social instability and actually cause more crime

Criticisms:-uses people as an example, not respectable of persons free will-can justify actions that are unfair (harm done to one person less than harm done to bunch of people, so punish the one person)

2) retributive: focuses on free will; we punish you b/c you deserve it-assault retrib.- its okay to hate criminals, they should be looked down upon-protective retrib.- treating criminal as a human and giving the punishment they deserve; giving respect to someone as a moral actor; restores moral balance

other things affect sentencing other than these theories, such as political pressures, social pressures, etc.

ARTICLE Utilitarianism: general deterrence, indiv. deterrence Retributive element just the pain and suffering of losing his daughter- natural punishment Sanction- 1 day in prison for 7 years on her bday, volunteer 2 hrs a week, and do annual

blood drive on weekend following her death, 7 yrs probation, and monitoring/supervision by social services

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT: What is the normative message that is sent through diff sanctions and how can they be

interpreted? Imagine a parent without a spouse, would you send that person to prison?