Criminal Justice and Justice Overall, Part II

Abstract

This is further exploration of the themes of Chapter 2, arguing that judges should not appeal to their own moral commitments in arriving at judicial decisions. There are respects in which the law needs to be morally intelligible but it needs to apply with generality that is not customized by the moral commitments of individuals. The pluralism of values in civil society should not translate into pluralism of criteria for criminal justice decisions. Desert has a key role that should not be highly vulnerable to different judges’ interpretations.