When should mercy be given? There are cases in which, according to Smart, that mercy should be taken in to consideration. However, there are also cases where it is not appropriate to give mercy to an offender. The example Smart gives in this case is relating to murder. According to…

Vera Bergelson begins by referring to a current case happening since 2010 in which two men, company owners, are facing charges in public welfare due to their egg company providing eggs with salmonella and spreading the illness to thousands of people. This incident creates the basis for Bergelson’s argument on…

Kant begins on page 331 with the right to punish- also known as the right a ruler has against a subject to inflict pain upon someone because they committed a crime. Therefore, the head of state cannot be punished because they are responsible for the punishment. Kant separates crimes between…

When should we blame people and hold them morally responsible for their actins? According to Philosophers interviewed in this podcast, punishment is not an adequate way to respond to criminal behavior. Marilyn Winn is a woman who was previously in and out of jail for crimes that she unwillingly committed…

Type 2- When should we hold people responsible for criminalized behavior? In both Tadros and Johnson’s writing, we look at social responsibility for criminal behavior. According to Tadros, poverty is something that we cause by not distributing wealth equally, and in return, the crime rate increases. Therefore, we should not…

Paulina Sliwa outlines the general theory of excuses. She begins by stating that she will be highlighting two accounts of excuses. To Paulina, excuses “function as responsibility- modifiers,” and “alter how the wrongdoer, the wronged party, bystanders may morally respond to a wrong, without negating that it remains appropriate to…

David Enoch begins his writing by outlining an argument of moral luck: (1) Someone who attempts to commit a murder and fails is — other things being equal — just as morally blameworthy as someone who succeeds in committing a murder. (2) Criminal punishment should be proportionate to the moral…

Type 3 Critical Engagement In this writing, the author focuses on the use of negligence in the Model Penal Code. The Model Penal Code (MPC) is the classification of mens rea. It is split into four categories: Purposeful, Knowing, Reckless, and Negligent. She creates the argument as follows: “issue of…

Type 1 Simester and Von Hirsch go into detail regarding the wrongfulness of an action. To summarize, the authors begin by stating that criminal law makes actions illegal and creates punishments for those who violate the laws. They emphasize the points of decriminalizing things that are aren’t actually wrong and…