Abstract
The lack of free will in human experience causes clear problems for criminal punishment. Free will is a central assumption of retribution; without the free choice to tear the moral fabric of society, one’s actions cannot warrant that she receives punishment. For its invalidity and cost, retribution should not be used as a penological goal in the creation of laws or sentencing. Utilitarian goals, aimed at the social good, should be used in retribution’s place.
Recommended Citation
Matthew D. Moyer,
Free Will's Enormous Cost: Why Retribution, Grounded in Free Will, is an Invalid and Impractical Penal Goal,
92
Notre Dame L. Rev.
2231
(2017).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr/vol92/iss5/15