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Full-Text Articles in Criminal Law
By Any Means: A Philosophical Frame For Rulemaking Reform In Criminal Law, Trevor George Gardner
By Any Means: A Philosophical Frame For Rulemaking Reform In Criminal Law, Trevor George Gardner
Scholarship@WashULaw
Equitable crime policy and equity in the process of crime policymaking stand as the two goals most important to criminal-justice reform advocates. It would be a strategic mistake, however, to consider the two of equal importance. Crime-policy reform should be considered the first-order principle of the crime-policy reform movement. Fairness in the crime-policymaking process, while key to the pursuit of democratic ideals, is best understood as a secondary consideration. Put simply, the prioritization of fair process risks stifling the crime-policy reform movement by tethering the policy ends of the movement (namely, minimalism in criminal administration) to a pre-ordained means.