Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2005
Abstract
The appropriateness of imposing criminal liability for negligent conduct has been the subject of debate among criminal law scholars for many years. Ever since H.L.A. Hart’s defense of criminal negligence, the prevailing view has favored its use. In this essay, I nevertheless argue against criminal negligence, on the ground that criminal liability should only be imposed where the defendant was aware he was engaging in the prohibited conduct, or where he was aware of risking such conduct or result. My argument relies on the claim that criminal liability should resemble judgments of responsibility in ordinary morality as closely as possible. I argue that responsibility judgments in ordinary morality are based on the agent’s having acted intentionally, and that an agent does intentionally what he chooses to do. Because agents choose to bring about those effects of their actions they foresee as reasonably likely to follow from what they do, they are responsible for such effects. They are not responsible for effects they do not foresee, or for effects they deem highly unlikely, and they ought not to be held criminally liable for them either.
Keywords
Criminal Law and Procedure, Criminal Sentencing, Law and Society, Social Science and the Law, Social Welfare
Publication Title
Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law
Repository Citation
Finkelstein, Claire Oakes, "Responsibility for Unintended Consequences" (2005). All Faculty Scholarship. 999.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/999
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Criminology Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Jurisprudence Commons, Law and Society Commons, Psychology Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons, Social Welfare Law Commons
Publication Citation
2 Ohio St. J. Crim. L. 579 (2005).