Addiction and Criminal Responsibility: The Law's Rejection of the Disease Model
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2022
Abstract
The chapter first provides a positive account of the law’s general concept of the person and responsibility doctrines. It then turns to the argument against the “no choice” claim that seemingly follows from the brain disease model. The next section considers the current legal response to addiction in the United States and, to a lesser degree, in English law. It shows that some version of the choice model is dominant, and that addiction per se plays virtually no role in criminal law’s responsibility ascriptions. The final section defends the choice model that best explains the law and suggests liberalizing reforms to make the law more humane.
Publication Title
Evaluating the Brain Disease Model of Addiction
Repository Citation
Morse, Stephen J., "Addiction and Criminal Responsibility: The Law's Rejection of the Disease Model" (2022). All Faculty Scholarship. 3358.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003032762-25