Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2003

Keywords

Criminal wrongdoing, Punishment as secular penance, Crime and punishment, State v. Forrest, People v. Goetz, State v. Williams, Walker v. Superior Court, Criminal law excuses, Crime as moral failure, Crimes of negligence

Disciplines

Criminal Law | Law and Society

Abstract

I distinguish two kinds of criminal wrongs. A wrongdoer who acts in defiance of his conscience is guilty of what I call a wicked wrong. A wrongdoer who does not act in defiance of his conscience is guilty of what I call a vicious wrong. The distinction is derived from a conception of immorality typically associated with the Christian tradition. The distinction is important because it determines the moral message a wrongdoer should try to send through the punishment or penance he must endure in order to atone for his wrongdoing.

Publication Citation

Published in: Punishment and Society, vol. 5, no. 3 (July 2003).

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