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Full-Text Articles in Law and Society
A Contractarian Argument Against The Death Penalty, Claire Oakes Finkelstein
A Contractarian Argument Against The Death Penalty, Claire Oakes Finkelstein
All Faculty Scholarship
Opponents of the death penalty typically base their opposition on contingent features of its administration, arguing that the death penalty is applied discriminatory, that the innocent are sometimes executed, or that there is insufficient evidence of the death penalty’s deterrent efficacy. Implicit in these arguments is the suggestion that if these contingencies did not obtain, serious moral objections to the death penalty would be misplaced. In this Article, Professor Finkelstein argues that there are grounds for opposing the death penalty even in the absence of such contingent factors. She proceeds by arguing that neither of the two prevailing theories of …
Adult Punishment For Juvenile Offenders: Does It Reduce Crime?, Richard E. Redding
Adult Punishment For Juvenile Offenders: Does It Reduce Crime?, Richard E. Redding
Working Paper Series
This chapter discusses the research on the general and specific deterrent effects of transferring juveniles for trial in adult criminal court, identifies gaps in our knowledge base that require further research, discusses the circumstances under which effective deterrence may be achieved, and examines whether there are effective alternatives for achieving deterrence other than adult sanctions for serious juvenile offenders. As a backdrop to this analysis, the chapter first examines the role of public opinion in shaping the get tough policies, and how policy makers have misunderstood and perceived support for these policies.
Multicultural Perspectives On Delinquency Etiology And Intervention, Richard E. Redding, Bruce Arrigo
Multicultural Perspectives On Delinquency Etiology And Intervention, Richard E. Redding, Bruce Arrigo
Working Paper Series
In this chapter, we consider the possible reasons for the overrepresentation of African-American youth in the juvenile and criminal justice systems. We review research on discrimination in the justice system and possible differences between African American and White youth in the key risk factors for delinquency that exist at the individual, family, and peer-group and neighborhood levels. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for treatments and interventions aimed at preventing and reducing offending and justice system involvement among African-American youth.
The Death Penalty's Future: Charting The Crosscurrents Of Declining Death Sentences And The Mcveigh Factor, Scott E. Sundby
The Death Penalty's Future: Charting The Crosscurrents Of Declining Death Sentences And The Mcveigh Factor, Scott E. Sundby
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Restorative Processes & Doing Justice, Paul H. Robinson
Restorative Processes & Doing Justice, Paul H. Robinson
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This essay argues that, while many restorative processes are quite valuable, there is the potential for their use to produce results that conflict with the community's shared intuitions of justice and to thereby undermine the criminal law's moral credibility. Because such moral credibility can have practical crime-control value, it ought not be undermined unless the crime-control benefits of doing so clearly outweigh the costs. In practice, it is entirely possible to rely upon restorative processes in ways that avoid injustice and that assure justice is done.
Capital Punishment And Capital Murder: Market Share And The Deterrent Effects Of The Death Penalty, Jeffrey Fagan, Franklin Zimring, Amanda Geller
Capital Punishment And Capital Murder: Market Share And The Deterrent Effects Of The Death Penalty, Jeffrey Fagan, Franklin Zimring, Amanda Geller
Faculty Scholarship
The modem debate on deterrence and capital punishment, now in its fourth decade, was launched by two closely timed events. The first was the 1976 United States Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia, which restored capital punishment after its brief constitutional ban following Furman v. Georgia in 1972. In 1975, Professor Isaac Ehrlich published an influential article saying that during the 1950s and 1960s, each execution averted eight murders. Although Ehrlich's article was a highly technical study prepared for an audience of economists, its influence went well beyond the economics profession. Ehrlich's work was cited favorably in Gregg …
Public Attitudes About The Culpability And Punishment Of Young Offenders, Elizabeth S. Scott, N. Dickon Reppucci, Jill Antonishak, Jennifer T. Degennaro
Public Attitudes About The Culpability And Punishment Of Young Offenders, Elizabeth S. Scott, N. Dickon Reppucci, Jill Antonishak, Jennifer T. Degennaro
Faculty Scholarship
Conventional wisdom holds that the public supports harsh punishment of juvenile offenders, and politicians often argue that the public demands tough policies. But public opinion is usually gauged through simplistic polls, often conducted in the wake of highly publicized violent crimes by juveniles. This study seeks to probe public opinion about the culpability of young offenders as compared to adult counterparts through more nuanced and comprehensive measures in a neutral setting (i.e. not in response to a high profile crime or during a political campaign when the media focuses on the issue). The opinions of 788 community adults were individually …