Can a Model Penal Code Second Save the States from Themselves?

Abstract

This commentary summarizes some of the institutional obstacles to serious reform the authors encountered in their work on two recent criminal-code redrafting efforts, in Illinois and Kentucky. The authors call for a project to create a Model Penal Code Second, in the hope that such a centralized, high-profile, and less directly politically charged or biased effort would be an effective spur to major reform at the state level.

Keywords: crime, Model Penal Code

JEL Classification: K14