The Secret Politics of the Compatibilist Criminal Law | Zendy

Anders Kaye | Zendy; Thomas Jefferson | Zendy; Linda L. Berger | Zendy; Lisa Bernstein | Zendy; Deven Desai | Zendy; Linda M. Keller | Zendy; Dana Kay Nelkin | Zendy; Sandy Rierson | Zendy; Steve Semeraro | Zendy; Ben Templin | Zendy; Claire Wright | Zendy; Kaimi Wenger | Zendy; Daniel Williams | Zendy

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The Secret Politics of the Compatibilist Criminal Law

Author(s) -

Anders Kaye,

Thomas Jefferson,

Linda L. Berger,

Lisa Bernstein,

Deven Desai,

Linda M. Keller,

Dana Kay Nelkin,

Sandy Rierson,

Steve Semeraro,

Ben Templin,

Claire Wright,

Kaimi Wenger,

Daniel Williams

Publication year - 2007

Publication title -

kansas law review

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

eISSN - 1942-9258

pISSN - 0083-4025

DOI - 10.17161/1808.19993

Subject(s) - compatibilism , politics , law , criminal law , political science , philosophy , moral responsibility

Many criminal theorists say that we have a 'compatibilist' criminal law, by which they mean that in our criminal law a person can deserve punishment for her acts even if she does not have 'genuinely' free will. This conception of the criminal law harbors and is driven by a secret politics, one that resists social change and idealizes the existing social order. In this Article, I map this secret politics. In so doing, I call into question the descriptive accuracy of the compatibilist account of the criminal law, and set the stage for a franker discussion of criminal punishment - one that recognizes that the perpetual struggle to say just who 'deserves' punishment is driven as much by brute politics and the competition to allocate power and resources in society as by any independent moral logic.

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