Law without Justice Why Criminal Law Doesn't Give People What They Deserve

by Robinson, Paul H.; Cahill, Michael T.

• ISBN13: 9780195160154
• ISBN10: 0195160150
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-12-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

If an innocent person is sent to prison or if a killer walks free, we are outraged. The legal system assures us, and we expect and demand, that it will seek to "do justice" in criminal cases. So why, for some cases, does the criminal law deliberately and routinely sacrifice justice? In thisunflinching look at American criminal law, Paul Robinson and Michael Cahill demonstrate that cases with unjust outcomes are not always irregular or unpredictable. Rather, the criminal law sometimes chooses not to give defendants what they deserve: that is, unsatisfying results occur even when thesystem works as it is designed to work. The authors find that while some justice-sacrificing doctrines serve their intended purpose, many others do not, or could be replaced by other, better rules that would serve the purpose without abandoning a just result. With a panoramic view of the overlappingand often competing goals that our legal institutions must balance on a daily basis, Law without Justice challenges us to restore justice to the criminal justice system.

Author Biography

Paul Robinson, the Colin S. Diver Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania, is one of the world's leading experts on criminal law. His non-academic work includes service as a federal prosecutor, as counsel for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Criminal Laws and Procedures, and as one of the original Commissioners of the United States Sentencing Commission.
Michael Cahill is Assistant Professor at Brooklyn Law School. Prior to his academic career, he served as Staff Director for the Illinois Criminal Code Rewrite and Reform Commission and was a consultant for the Kentucky Penal Code Revision Project.

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(3)
Objectives and Organization	6	(4)
The Relevance of the Project	10	(3)
Doing Justice and the Distractions from It	13	(14)
Why Focus on Doing Justice?	15	(3)
A Further Word on What We Mean by ``Doing Justice''	18	(3)
The Utility of Desert: The Practical Costs of Deviations from Doing Justice	21	(6)
PART I: PROMOTING JUSTICE IN A COMPLEX WORLD
Fear of Manipulation and Abuse	27	(25)
Is a Federal Prison Guard a ``Peace Officer''?	28	(3)
Rejecting a Defense for Reasonable Mistake of Law (or for Necessity or Immaturity)	31	(4)
``Whoosh, Whoosh, Push''	35	(6)
Improperly Narrowing or Rejecting Legitimate Excuses	41	(3)
Sodomized and Taunted, the Pot Boils Over	44	(2)
Relying upon a Purely Objective Standard	46	(3)
Preventing Over-Individualization of an Objective Standard	49	(3)
Advancing Reliability	52	(20)
Too Late for Justice	53	(5)
Statutes of Limitation	58	(4)
Howard Aftermath	62	(1)
Mistakes of Youth	62	(3)
Strict Liability	65	(4)
Excluding Coerced Confessions and Uncounseled Lineups	69	(3)
Making the Most of Limited Resources	72	(17)
A Bargain on Contract Killings?	74	(5)
Plea Bargaining and Witness Immunity	79	(5)
Gravano Aftermath	84	(5)
PART II: SACRIFICING JUSTICE TO PROMOTE OTHER INTERESTS
Living by Rules	89	(28)
Three Hundred Bodies in the Backyard	90	(6)
Legality	96	(3)
Marsh Aftermath	99	(2)
Cannibalism at Sea	101	(8)
Denying Legitimate Excuses (for the Sake of Clarity)	109	(1)
Dudley Aftermath	110	(1)
Setting Boundaries: Legality and Changing Norms	111	(6)
Controlling Crime and Criminals	117	(20)
Fleeing as Murder	119	(5)
Deterrence	124	(6)
Rehabilitation	130	(2)
TV Violence	132	(1)
Incapacitation	133	(4)
Controlling Police and Prosecutors	137	(49)
Released to Kill	139	(10)
Exclusionary Rules	149	(6)
Speedy Trial	155	(2)
Eyler Aftermath	157	(2)
Pictures in the Heating Duct	159	(7)
Double Jeopardy	166	(3)
Ignatow Aftermath	169	(1)
Incompetency	170	(2)
A Winged Car Powered by Cocaine	172	(8)
Entrapment	180	(3)
Moral Credibility ``versus'' Legitimacy: Evaluating the Tradeoffs	183	(3)
Promoting Interests Unrelated to Criminal Justice	186	(19)
Criminal Camping	187	(3)
Criminalization of Regulatory Violations	190	(2)
Lindsey Aftermath	192	(1)
Corporate Criminality	192	(3)
The Diplomatic Rapist	195	(4)
Diplomatic and Official Immunity	199	(6)
PART III: REGAINING MORAL CREDIBILITY
Criminal Justice Reforms	205	(13)
Shifting Evidentiary Burdens	205	(5)
Revamping the Verdict System	210	(2)
Using Alternative Punishment Methods	212	(6)
Employing Civil Rather Than Criminal Processes	218	(11)
Using Administrative, Instead of Criminal, Sanctions for Regulatory Violations	218	(4)
Controlling Police and Prosecutor Misconduct without Letting the Criminal Go Free	222	(3)
Distinguishing Dangerousness from Blameworthiness	225	(4)
Conclusion: Doing Justice in a Complex World	229	(4)
Notes	233	(80)
Index	313