I. The Justification of Punishment (Chapter 2)
What is punishment?
A. Blame and Punishment
Regina v. Dudley and Stevens (Queen’s Bench 1884, P135)
1) Facts: Four men trapped on boat at sea w/ little food. Captain Dudley and his first mate Stevens decided to kill Parker the cabin boy and eat him to save the rest of them. Brooks did not assent. Dudley and Stevens charged w/ murder, but sentences to death are commuted to 6 mos.
2) Can see major issues of criminal law in this caseà mens rea, actus reus, causation (would boat maker be negligent), parties (accomplice and conspiratorial liability), grading
tence, and a proposition that justifies such a killing as anything other than murder is dangerous, immoral and opposed to all legal principle and analogy.
B. Purposes of punishment/Why Punish?
1) Deterrence- general or specific; from Bentham’s theory of utilitarianism- humans driven by seeking pleasure and avoiding pain; also to channel human desire for revenge and prevent vigilante activity
a. Need equation where T
