Addiction and Criminal Responsibility
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
5-1-2011
Abstract
This chapter begins with the story of Mr. Leroy Powell, a genuine addict whose criminal responsibility was addressed in a popular Supreme Court case in 1968. This story is presented to lay the groundwork for the issues addressed in this chapter. It is determined how and in what cases addiction affects criminal responsibility, after identifying the criteria for compulsion and the criteria for criminal responsibility. The question is also asked whether the law should adopt a medicalized view of addiction or not. It is also shown that the criteria for criminal responsibility, like that for addiction, are all behavioral, suggesting that any scientific information about addiction must be “translated” into the law’s psychological criteria.
Keywords
criminal responsibility, Mr. Leroy Powell, addict, criteria for compulsion, medicalized view
Publication Title
Addiction and Responsibility
Repository Citation
Morse, Stephen, "Addiction and Criminal Responsibility" (2011). Book Chapters. 89.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_chapters/89
https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262015509.003.0007
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262015509.003.0007