Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1996
Abstract
Blackstone had a point in identifying crimes as public wrongs and torts as private wrongs. Both crimes and torts claim victims, however, the victims' responses vary according to context. In criminal cases, the victim responds by hoping that the government will apprehend and successfully prosecute the offender. In tort disputes, the victim responds by demanding compensation.
It is unclear, however, what constitutes wrongdoing. Defining wrongdoing as the violation of rights is unhelpful, for that definition only raises other questions: Who has rights and what is their content? Therefore, to understand the nature of wrongdoing, we should seek a substantive theory of wrongdoing-an account of what is wrong and why it is wrong. I wish to venture a theory of this sort by examining the role of dominance, or domination, in wrongdoing.
Disciplines
Criminal Law | Law | Law and Philosophy
Recommended Citation
George P. Fletcher,
Domination in Wrongdoing,
76
B. U. L. Rev.
347
(1996).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/1066