Justice, Liability and Blame

Do lay judgements of criminal transgressions often conflict with the way cases are judged within the legal code? If so, what impact do the discrepancies in judgement have on the community governed by that legal code? This book sets out to answer these questions. Analyzing a series of studies, it compares lay opinion and code provisions on issues such as the justified use of force, insanity, accusation, complicity, risk-creation, omission liability, culpability requirements, duress, entrapment, multiple offences, and criminalization matters cush as felony murder and sexual offences. It uncovers significant differences in how various transgressions are judged within the criminal code and how they are judged by ordinary people living in the affected communities.