We model a simple justice system in which a court is mandated by society to assess the guilt and the punishment of an accused. The court takes prison facilities as given and neglects its impact on the cost to society of implementing the sentence. Clearly, the court, in this world, will condemn more often than society and assign higher penalties. Under these circumstances, society at large would necessarily benefit from having maximum sentences. We show, however, as a series of perverse results, that (1) maximum penalties need to be lower than the highest socially desirable penalty; (2) society would benefit from imposing high minimum sentences even though it is precisely the harshness of courts, which it wants to curb.
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Length: 17 pages Date of creation: Jan 2000 Date of revision: Publication status: forthcoming (latest version), International Review of Law and Economics Handle: RePEc:cre:crefwp:101
Find related papers by JEL classification: K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law
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