Relying on the Information of Interested--and Potentially Dishonest--Parties

This article investigates the role of evidence production inthe regulation of private behavior via judicial and administrativeprocess. It proposes a model in which the law makes the agent's"fine" depend on the presentation of evidence whose productioncost, in turn, depends on how the agent has behaved in the regulatedactivity. This view of evidence production has several notableimplications, including that truth finding has no direct rolein deterrence, that nonfalsifiable evidence, even when available,is unlikely to be the best choice for the system, and that "overdeterrence"may well be cost-effective.     

Economy,punishment and imprisonment

Recent trends in sentencing in England and Wales are discussed and related to the debate concerning the relationship between unemployment and imprisonment. The shift towards a more punitive justice system are traced to the abandonment of full employment economic policies in the mid 1970s.