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Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2021

Publication Title

Yale Law Journal Forum

Abstract

Equitable crime policy and equity in the process of crime policymaking stand as the two goals most important to criminal-justice reform advocates. It would be a strategic mistake, however, to consider the two of equal importance. Crime-policy reform should be considered the first-order principle of the crime-policy reform movement. Fairness in the crime-policymaking process, while key to the pursuit of democratic ideals, is best understood as a secondary consideration. Put simply, the prioritization of fair process risks stifling the crime-policy reform movement by tethering the policy ends of the movement (namely, minimalism in criminal administration) to a pre-ordained means.

Keywords

Criminal Policy Reform, Criminal Justice Reform

Publication Citation

Trevor George Gardner, By Any Means: A Philosophical Frame for Rulemaking Reform in Criminal Law, 130 Yale L.J. Forum 798 (2021)

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