About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

2017 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1333 (2017)
Threats and Criminal Deterrence in Several Dimensions

handle is hein.journals/unilllr2017 and id is 1366 raw text is: THREATS AND CRIMINAL DETERRENCE IN SEVERAL DIMENSIONS Saul Levmore* Ariel Porat** This Article's claim is that deterrence in criminal law is com- posed of four oft-competing goals that ought to be taken into account when calibrating sanctions. Consider an offender, such as an armed robber or kidnapper, who threatens to commit a yet more serious crime unless the victim surrenders. The first goal, or dimension, of de- terrence is to deter the threat, or crime in general, and this suggests a high sanction for the armed robbery or other threatening crime. A second goal is to deter escalation, in this case the execution of the threat once issued. This goal normally suggests a large gap between the sanctions for lesser and greater crimes, in order to discourage es- calation. Given a natural, or practical, ceiling to criminal penalties, the suggested gap often implies a relatively low sanction for the lesser crime, or threat, and some sacrifice of direct deterrence. Two other goals, or dimensions, of deterrence have been unrec- ognized by academic commentators and legislatures. By extending the analysis to include behavior by victims, it becomes apparent that law ought to make the offender's threat incredible to victims. If the threat can be weakened, victims will be less inclined to submit, and then of- fenders will have less reason to threaten in the first place. This third dimension suggests a large gap between the sanctions for the lesser (threat) and greater (execution) crimes; if the gap is small, victims will recognize that the offender has little to lose from continuing on and executing his threat, and these victims will submit and make the crim- inal's threat profitable, thereby encouraging yet more criminal activi- ty. A fourth, equally novel, dimension of deterrence is the ability of law to make incredible the implicit promise by a threatener not to es- calate if the victim submits. When this implicit promise is incredible, victims will again tend not to submit to the threat, and offenders will, * Saul Levmore is the William B. Graham Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chi- cago Law School. ** Ariel Porat is the Alain Poher Professor of Law, Tel Aviv University, and the Fischel-Neil Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Chicago Law School. 1333

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most