Justification and Excuse: What They Were, What They Are, and What They Ought To Be

Few concepts are as basic to the law or religion, philosophy, and life, for that matter as are justification and excuse. They are fundamental guideposts for how we live our lives and interact with others. In the context of the criminal law, justification and excuse are touchstones for prescribing and proscribing conduct generally, and for assigning guilt or innocence in the particular case. They are always implicit, and often explicit, in every crime that a society chooses to recognize.They are of paramount importance in both establishing the parameters of criminal offenses and providing for their principled enforcement. It is not an overstatement to observe that a moral and coherent understanding and application of justification and excuse is indispensable to a moral and coherent system of criminal laws.