Crim Law Outline:
Views of Punishment:
Ø Why punishment at all?
o Justify/legitimize criminal justice system
o Helps determine what conduct is wrongful, who can be held accountable, and how much punishment is warranted
o Provides intellectual basis for evaluating the fairness and coherence of our criminal laws
Ø Utilitarianism
o Purpose of the law is to maximize the happiness of society
o Types
§ Act = Calculation of whether an act is justified on utilitarianism grounds
§ Rule = Determination of whether an act publicly announced as a rule of law that applies to an entire community would be justified
o Pain in punishment is justifiable if/only if it’s expected to result in a reduction of the pain of crime that would otherwise occur
ndividual won’t commit crime because he fears punishment
· Incapacitation: Criminal can’t commit crime because he’s in jail for X amount of time
· Intimidation: Reminds D that if he returns to crime, he’ll get more pain (punishment)
§ General deterrence: D punished to keep the rest of society in line
§ Rehabilitation: Reform the wrongdoer instead of punishing him
Ø Retributivisim
o Punishing people based on what they deserve, irregardless of whether society as a whole will benefit.
o D(desert) = f(h,R)
§ h = harm
§ R = responsibility (0
