Rethinking Criminal Law and Family Status

40 Pages Posted: 6 May 2010 Last revised: 29 Jan 2016

See all articles by Dan Markel

Dan Markel

Florida State University College of Law (Deceased)

Ethan J. Leib

Fordham University School of Law

Jennifer M. Collins

Southern Methodist University - Dedman School of Law

Abstract

In our recent book, Privilege or Punish: Criminal Justice and the Challenge of Family Ties (OUP 2009), we examined and critiqued a number of ways in which the criminal justice system uses family status to distribute benefits or burdens to defendants. In their review essays, Professors Alafair Burke, Alice Ristroph & Melissa Murray identify a series of concerns with the framework we offer policymakers to analyze these family ties benefits or burdens. We think it worthwhile not only to clarify where those challenges rest on misunderstandings or confusions about the central features of our views, but also to show the deficiencies of the proposed alternatives. While we appreciate and admire the efforts of our critics to advance this important conversation, we hope this Essay will illuminate why the normative framework of Privilege or Punish remains a more helpful structure to policymakers assessing how family status should intersect with the criminal law within a liberal democracy such as our own.

A free PDF of the book is available here: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1677503

The review essay by Professors Ristroph and Murray can be found on SSRN here: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1567867

The review essay by Professor Burke can be found on SSRN here: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1600886

Keywords: criminal law, criminal justice, family, policing, prosecution

JEL Classification: K14

Suggested Citation

Markel, Dan and Leib, Ethan J. and Collins, Jennifer M., Rethinking Criminal Law and Family Status. Yale Law Journal, Vol. 119, pp. 1864-1903, 2010, FSU College of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 472, SMU Dedman School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 223, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1600920

Dan Markel (Contact Author)

Florida State University College of Law (Deceased)

Ethan J. Leib

Fordham University School of Law ( email )

150 West 62nd Street
New York, NY 10023
United States

Jennifer M. Collins

Southern Methodist University - Dedman School of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 750116
Dallas, TX 75275
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
198
Abstract Views
3,308
Rank
277,211
PlumX Metrics