Utopian Possibilities

And what if the achievement of social justice makes criminal law unnecessary? This possibility has long tantalized commentators from Marx and Engels in the nineteenth century to contemporary advocates of defund the police and prison abolition. Such a possibility merits consideration, but it must be evaluated in light of current patterns of human predation, not in light of a hope of social redemption. In rejecting utopian reasoning, the chapter concludes by summarizing the legal reform agenda that informs the remainder of the book, an agenda that integrates social justice considerations into the administration of criminal law.