Title

Whom Should We Punish, and How? Rational Incentives and Criminal Justice Reform

Authors

Keith Hylton, Boston University School of LawFollow

Author granted license

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2017

Publisher

Boston University School of Law

Language

en-US

Abstract

This essay sets out a comprehensive account of rational punishment theory and examines its implications for criminal law reform. Specifically, what offenses should be subjected to criminal punishment, and how should we punish? Should we use prison sentences or fines, and where should we use them? Should some conduct be left to a form of market punishment through private lawsuits? Should fines be used to fund the criminal justice system? The answers I offer address some of the most important public policy issues of the moment, such as mass incarceration and the use of fines to finance law enforcement. The framework of this paper is firmly grounded in rational deterrence policy, and yet points toward reforms that would soften or reduce the scope of criminal punishment.

Comments

Published as: "Whom Should We Punish, and How? Rational Incentives and Criminal Justice Reform," 59 William & Mary Law Review 2513 (2018).

2017 Wythe Lecture at William & Mary Law School

Recommended Citation

Keith Hylton, Whom Should We Punish, and How? Rational Incentives and Criminal Justice Reform, No. 17-18 Boston University School of Law, Law and Economics Paper (2017).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/207

SSRN URL

https://ssrn.com/abstract=2982371