Special Moral Demands of Criminal Justice and Moral Foundations of Criminal Guilt

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Special Moral Demands of Criminal
JusticeandMoral Foundations of Criminal Guilt
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Why Be Moral?

• Reasons for morality.
• Self-Interest
• Happiness (Making self and others happy)
• Self-Respect
• Self-Worth (Rising above desires)
• Sense of Community (Sociality)

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Why Be Moral?

• When should a person responsible to society for
  acts considered to be criminal?
• What is the relationship between law and moral
  values?
• Should unjust or oppressive social conditions
  reduce criminal responsibility?

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Why Be Moral?

• What role should moral concepts play in CJ?
• Two Main Perspectives
• 1. Achieving social order outweighs concerns for
  social justice.
• 2. CJ system goals must be achieved within
  constraints of social justice.

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Why Be Moral?

• First Perspective
• 1. Achieving social order outweighs concerns for
  social justice.
• Suggests that criminal law impose severe
  punishments in order to deter others from illegal
  activity.
• Law As External Constraint Thesis

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Why Be Moral?

• Second Perspective
• 2. CJ system goals must be achieved within
  constraints of social justice.
• Suggests that the moral foundation of order is
  tenuous at best when people obey the law because
  they fear consequences of illegal behavior.
• Law As Internal Constraint Concept

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Why Be Moral?

• A violent order is disorder. Wallace Stevens

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Why Be Moral?

• Law As External Constraint Thesis
• The ends justify the means
• Law As Internal Constraint Concept
• If the CJ system does not consistently work
  equally to the benefit of all members of society,
  the CJ system loses its differentiation from
  crime.

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Why Be Moral?

• A working definition of morality.
• Concept of Reciprocal Decency
• Do unto others as you would have others do unto
  you.

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Why Be Moral?

• What do we mean when we say, Not every act
  regarded as immoral by the dominant community
  should be made criminal, and no act should be
  made criminal if it is not viewed as immoral.

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Why Be Moral?

• What do we mean when we say, Not every act
  regarded as immoral by the dominant community
  should be made criminal, and no act should be
  made criminal if it is not viewed as immoral.
• The conduct in question must be viewed by society
  as a moral wrong and a breach of some minimum
  condition of social existence.

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Why Be Moral?

• The conduct in question must be viewed by society
  as a moral wrong and a breach of some minimum
  condition of social existence.
• This suggests that the criminal code should
  define only minimum conditions of individual
  responsibility to other members of society.

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Why Be Moral?

• Should the law consider limitations in capacity
  for choosing right from wrong?

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Why Be Moral?

• Should the law consider limitations in capacity
  for choosing right from wrong?
• What about these limitations?
• Education
• Low Intelligence
• Impulse Control Disorders
• Others

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Why Be Moral?

• Can there be equal justice when the kind of trial
  a person gets depends on the amount of money, or
  family influence, that they have?
• What are the implications of this for all
  society?

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Why Be Moral?

• Recall Law As External Constraint Theory
• 1. Achieving social order outweighs concerns for
  social justice.
• Suggests that criminal law impose severe
  punishments in order to deter others from illegal
  activity.
• Justifications
• Society cannot afford social justice.
• We do not know with certainty what causes crime.
• It is not cost effective to fight crime by social
  reform.

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Why Be Moral?

• Choices in Addressing the Crime Problem.
• The choice is goals.
• Repressive Order, or
• Moral Order
• David Bazelon, Federal Appeals Court Judge

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Break

• Some Food For Thought
• Anything worth having is worth working for.
• Physical courage is more abundant that moral
  courage.
• If we are not part of the solution, we are part
  of the problem.

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Social Contract Theory

• What is the relationship between governmental
  protection and the citizens responsibility to
  obey the law?
• What are the legitimate limits of power for the
  state to preserve the peace?
• What is political obligation if people are free
  to decide whether the state is doing its job?

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Social Contract Theory

• Basic Premise One of the most important
  benefits the state provides is protection.
• Protection from what?

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Social Contract Theory

• Basic Premise One of the most important
  benefits the state provides is protection.
• Many urban residents and the poor feel they are
  victims twice.

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Social Contract Theory

• Basic Premise One of the most important
  benefits the state provides is protection.
• The right to self preservation is not completely
  given up when one joins the state.
• How do we join the state?

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Social Contract Theory

• Basic Premise One of the most important
  benefits the state provides is protection.
• How do we join the state?
• Free people agree to give up some rights to the
  state
• Right to be their own judge, jury, enforcer

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Social Contract Theory

• Can there be exceptions of surrender of rights to
  the state?
• What justifies disobeying government laws?
• Can government/society survive if exceptions are
  allowed?

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Social Contract Theory

• Can there be exceptions of surrender of rights to
  the state?
• Yes
• What justifies disobeying government laws?
• Usurping individual rights, tyranny
• Can government/society survive if exceptions are
  allowed?
• Legal redress provides remedy without
  destabilization

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Social Contract Theory

• Should the state violate civil liberties in order
  to decrease crime?
• What should citizen response be to their
  perception of lack of governmental protection?
• What about inequality for women and racial
  minorities?

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Social Contract Theory

• If the state does not take measures to make all
  members of society truly equal, is citizen
  obligation to the state weakened?

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Social Contract Theory

• If the state does not take measures to make all
  members of society truly equal, is citizen
  obligation to the state weakened?
• The state argues that no matter what your
  perception, you are always protected and thus
  always obliged to obey the law.

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Social Contract Theory

• What is the relationship between governmental
  protection and the citizens responsibility to
  obey the law?
• Free surrender of some rights in exchange for
  protection/services
• Equal protection
• What are the legitimate limits of power for the
  state to preserve the peace?
• Moral and ethical responses to given situations
• What is political obligation if people are free
  to decide whether the state is doing its job?
• Could the answer reasonably depend on your
  perspective?

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Break

• Read Assignments
• Participate in Class Discussions
• Review Notes Weekly