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Utility And Community: Musings On The Tort/Crime Distinction, Stephen G. Marks
Utility And Community: Musings On The Tort/Crime Distinction, Stephen G. Marks
Faculty Scholarship
In this Paper, I propose the following two step procedure to explain both the inclusion and exclusion of criminal utility. As a first step, I posit a full compliance utility function. This utility function includes all utilities for all activities and incorporates an assumption that all members of society will forego prohibited activities. Aa s preliminary matter, I will also presuppose common information and shared values within the community. I suggest that maximization of full compliance social utility determines what society prohibits. As a second step, I strip the social utility function of the utility from prohibited activities and drop …
Truth And Consequences: The Force Of Blackmail's Central Case, Wendy J. Gordon
Truth And Consequences: The Force Of Blackmail's Central Case, Wendy J. Gordon
Faculty Scholarship
Blackmail commentary continues to proliferate. One purpose of this paper is to show what we agree on. Its primary tool will be to define what I call the "central case" of blackmail literature, and to supply the connecting links that will allow us to see how various normative theories converge in condemning central case blackmail. Admittedly, the law criminalizes more than my central case. But once we recognize that the central case is neither puzzling nor paradoxical, it may be easier to handle the border cases that arise.