Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2012
Abstract
In this book chapter we give a definition of inchoate crimes and argue that inchoate crimes, so defined, are not culpable and do not deserve punishment. Our argument against the culpability of inchoate crimes is based on several points: the ability of the actor who intends a future act that might be culpable if performed to change his mind prior to the act’s performance; the conditionality of all future-oriented intentions; uncertainty regarding the culpability-enhancing or culpability-mitigating circumstances that will exist at the future time of performance; and the roles of vacillation and duration in assessing culpability. We argue that punishment for inchoate crimes should be regarded as preventive rather than retributive
Keywords
risk, culpability, inchoate crimes, prevention
Publication Title
Seeking Security: Pre-empting the Commission of Criminal Harms
Repository Citation
Alexander, Larry and Ferzan, Kimberly Kessler, "Risk and Inchoate Crimes: Retribution or Prevention?" (2012). All Faculty Scholarship. 2615.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/2615
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Law and Philosophy Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons
Publication Citation
In Seeking Security: Pre-empting the Commission of Criminal Harms (G.R. Sullivan & Ian Dennis eds., Hart 2012)