Jesper Ryberg

• Dr. Phil. & PhD
• Professor at Roskilde University

The relationship between social justice and criminal justice gives rise to a range of important ethical questions. The purpose of this paper is to consider an influential argument within this field: namely, the responsibility-based argument for social adversity mitigation. According to this argument, offenders with a ‘rotten social background’ shou...

The use of artificial intelligence as an instrument to assist judges in determining sentences in criminal cases is attracting increasing theoretical attention. While many theorists have argued that there may be important advantages to introducing algorithmic sentencing support in criminal cases, almost no one has considered how such systems should...

This volume explores ethical aspects relating to claims for mitigation arising from culpable state action (or inaction). It answers the important and controversial question: to what extent should the state mitigate sentencing for defendants who have been victims of state misconduct? The volume explores the normative justifications for mitigation an...

The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Punishment is the most comprehensive collective work that has yet been published on the philosophical aspects of punishment. It is divided into nine sections covering all the main philosophical challenges arising from the questions of why, when, and how offenders should be punished for their misdeeds. An ini...

The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Punishment is the most comprehensive collective work that has yet been published on the philosophical aspects of punishment. It is divided into nine sections covering all the main philosophical challenges arising from the questions of why, when, and how offenders should be punished for their misdeeds. An ini...

The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Punishment is the most comprehensive collective work that has yet been published on the philosophical aspects of punishment. It is divided into nine sections covering all the main philosophical challenges arising from the questions of why, when, and how offenders should be punished for their misdeeds. An ini...

The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Punishment is the most comprehensive collective work that has yet been published on the philosophical aspects of punishment. It is divided into nine sections covering all the main philosophical challenges arising from the questions of why, when, and how offenders should be punished for their misdeeds. An ini...

The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Punishment is the most comprehensive collective work that has yet been published on the philosophical aspects of punishment. It is divided into nine sections covering all the main philosophical challenges arising from the questions of why, when, and how offenders should be punished for their misdeeds. An ini...

The use of artificial intelligence as an instrument to assist judges in determining sentences in criminal cases is an issue that gives rise to many theoretical challenges. The purpose of this article is to examine one of these challenges known as the “input problem.” This problem arises supposedly due to two reasons: that in order for an algorithm...

While increasing attention has been directed to the legal and criminological aspects of situational crime prevention, focused ethical discussion of the measures involved has been notable by its absence. Situational crime prevention measures are being used increasingly in various forms in cities all around the world. This book addresses the complex...

Artificial intelligence is currently supplanting the work of humans in many societal contexts. The purpose of this article is to consider the question of when algorithmic tools should be regarded as performing sufficiently well to replace human judgements and decision-making at sentencing. More precisely, the question as to which are the ethically...

In this article, our aim is to show why increasing the effectiveness of detecting doping fraud in sport by the use of artificial intelligence (AI) may be morally wrong. The first argument in favour of this conclusion is that using AI to make a non-ideal antidoping policy even more effective can be morally wrong. Whether the increased effectiveness...

Artificial intelligence is increasingly permeating many types of high-stake societal decision-making such as the work at the criminal courts. Various types of algorithmic tools have already been introduced into sentencing. This article concerns the use of algorithms designed to deliver sentence recommendations. More precisely, it is considered how...

The rise of neurotechnologies, especially in combination with artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods for brain data analytics, has given rise to concerns around the protection of mental privacy, mental integrity and cognitive liberty - often framed as "neurorights" in ethical, legal, and policy discussions. Several states are now looking at inc...

The rise of neurotechnologies, especially in combination with AI-based methods for brain data analytics, has given rise to concerns around the protection of mental privacy, mental integrity and cognitive liberty - often framed as 'neurorights' in ethical, legal and policy discussions. Several states are now looking at including 'neurorights' into t...

The South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya, former winner of two Olympic gold medals, recently participated in the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Semenya was permitted to run in the women’s 5,000m competition, where she did not qualify for the final. However, she was not allowed to participate in her favorite discipline, the 800m...

The 2018 eligibility regulation for female competitors with differences of sexual development (DSD) issued by World Athletics requires competitors with DSD with blood testosterone levels at or above 5 nmol/L and sufficient androgen sensitivity to be excluded from competition in certain events unless they reduce the level of testosterone in their bl...

Is it morally acceptable to use artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of computer-driven algorithms in the determination of sentences on those who have broken the law? If so, how should such algorithms be used? This book is the first collective work devoted exclusively to the ethical and penal theoretical considerations of the use of AI at sente...

Both predictive accuracy and transparency are generally recognized to constitute ethically desirable features of algorithms used in sentencing practice. However, it is often explicitly or implicitly assumed that there may be a conflict between transparency and accuracy. If an algorithmic tool is made more transparent, this will result in a loss of...

Applied ethics is a branch of ethics devoted to the treatment of moral problems, practices, and policies in personal life, professions, technology, and government. In contrast to traditional ethical theory—concerned with purely theoretical problems such as, for example, the development of a general criterion of rightness—applied ethics takes its po...

Is it morally acceptable to use artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of computer-driven algorithms in the determination of sentences on those who have broken the law? If so, how should such algorithms be used? This book is the first collective work devoted exclusively to the ethical and penal theoretical considerations of the use of AI at sente...

Is it morally acceptable to use artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of computer-driven algorithms in the determination of sentences on those who have broken the law? If so, how should such algorithms be used? This book is the first collective work devoted exclusively to the ethical and penal theoretical considerations of the use of AI at sente...

Is it morally acceptable to use artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of computer-driven algorithms in the determination of sentences on those who have broken the law? If so, how should such algorithms be used? This book is the first collective work devoted exclusively to the ethical and penal theoretical considerations of the use of AI at sente...

Why is the ethics of punishment an important academic field? The standard answer given by philosophers, legal scholars, and other theorists is that academic engagement in the ethics of punishment is justified by the importance of informing and guiding penal practice. In this article, this view is referred to as the Impact Assumption. The purpose of...

The principle of proportionality has gained widespread adherence in the modern retributively-dominated era of penal theory. It has often been held that, if one subscribes to a retributivist theory, then one is also committed to proportionality in punishment (or at least to proportionately-determined upper punishment constraints). In the present art...

Some novel brain devices are able to predict neural events, making it possible for the device to advise its user to engage in the appropriate countermeasures before the event takes place. Other devices can automatically discharge such countermeasures on its user's behalf. In this paper, we consider some of the ethically questions that will arise if...

An increasing number of philosophers and other theorists have in recent years become preoccupied with the question as to whether it is ethically acceptable to use neurointerventions-that is, interventions which in one way or another operate directly on the brain of a subject-as an instrument in crime prevention. But have the theorists who engage in...

The idea of using artificial intelligence as a support system in the sentencing process has attracted increasing attention. For instance, it has been suggested that machine learning algorithms may help in curbing problems concerning inter-judge sentencing disparity. The purpose of the present article is to examine the merits of this possibility. It...

Is it morally acceptable to use neurointerventions on criminal offenders as an instrument to prevent future engagement in criminal activity? The purpose of this chapter is to direct attention to a distinction which it is crucial to keep in mind in considerations of how this question should be answered. More precisely, the question may be interprete...

A traditional assumption in retributivist thinking is the view that an offender's desert is determined exclusively on the basis of the gravity of the crime committed. However, this assumption has recently been challenged. Netanel Dagan and Julian Roberts have advocated a dynamic theory of desert, or what they refer to as “the dynamic censure model....

The Covid-19 pandemic has overwhelmed healthcare systems in several countries and has led to situations in which the number of critically ill patients has exceeded the number of ICU beds and ventilators. In anticipation of a potential shortage of ventilators, many countries developed triage guidelines to handle such situations. However, at the curr...

Retributivism' covers a wide range of theories which, even though they differ in various ways, all give some room for proportionality considerations with regard to the question of how severely offenders should be punished. This article addresses the question-well-known from traditional ethical theory-as to whether proportionality constraints should...

The use of risk assessment tools has come to play an increasingly important role in sentencing decisions in many jurisdictions. A key issue in the theoretical discussion of risk assessment concerns the predictive accuracy of such tools. For instance, it has been underlined that most risk assessment instruments have poor to moderate accuracy in most...

Can it be justified to use neuroscientific technologies for influencing the functioning of human brain as a means of preventing offenders from engaging in future criminal conduct? This is indeed a highly controversial question and one which has a dark prehistory. Moreover, it is also a question that has attracted recent optimistic attention from re...

The principle of proportionality presupposes that it is possible to make some sort of scaling of crimes in seriousness. Three theoretical challenges face the comparison of the seriousness of crimes: the “harm specification challenge,” which posits that some crimes do not in any direct way involve harm, while others involve harm to an extent that se...

This chapter concerns the controversial question whether compulsory use of neurointerventions in the treatment of offenders can ever be morally justified. That there are strong reasons against such use is hard to reject. But does this imply that such treatment is wrong everything considered? And if so, why is this the case? A number of objections a...

This chapter explains what motivates an ethical discussion of the use of neurointerventions as an instrument of crime prevention. Moreover, it critically discusses a number of possible objections to the ethical discussion of the use of neurointerventions on offenders. For instance: Are considerations of neurointerventions unacceptably hypothetical?...

This chapter considers the possibility of offering reduced prison terms to offenders who accept undergoing some sort of neurointervention. The standard objection has been that such treatment is basically coercive. This objection is discussed. Furthermore, the chapter examines other potential objections; to wit, that treatment-conditioned penal redu...

This chapter takes up an issue that more narrowly relates to the question who should administer the use of neurointerventions if such treatment were to be put into practice. That such treatment would usually require at least some degree of involvement by personnel with medical skills is beyond doubt. However, this raises the question whether physic...

This chapter takes its point of departure from the fact that the idea of using neurointervention as an instrument of crime prevention carries a very dark prehistory. However, the history of the use of various types of treatment methods over the last century plays a somewhat unclarified role in the modern neuroethical debate. Some theorists seem alm...

This chapter addresses the question whether a properly imposed neurointervention can in itself function as a type of punishment. This question opens up a discussion concerning the definition of punishment and, furthermore, a broader discussion as to which requirements should be satisfied for a punishment to be morally justified. Finally, it is cons...

This chapter takes the step from traditional abstract ethical considerations to the more practical question as to what should be expected if one imagines that treatment in the form of neurointerventions is further developed and were to be implemented within a framework such as the one we know from current criminal justice practice. The discussion i...

The editors of this volume have assembled a distinguished group of scholars whose contributions incisively explore the many issues raised by predictive sentencing. The issues include its fit with standard views about the aims of legal punishment and with related moral concepts such as the rights and dignity of offenders. They also include the numer...

Most people assume that criminal offenders have only been convicted of a single crime. However, in reality almost half of offenders stand to be sentenced for more than one crime. The high proportion of multiple-crime offenders poses a number of practical and theoretical challenges for the criminal justice system. For instance, how should courts pun...

Many theorists have expressed the view that current or future applications of neurotechnology may prompt serious ethical problems in terms of privacy. This article concerns the question as to whether involuntary neurotechnological mind reading can plausibly be held to violate a person’s moral right to mental privacy. It is argued that it is difficu...

This book examines the complexities of sentencing when the offender stands convicted of multiple crimes. Contributors tackle the problem of multiple-offense sentencing in different ways and diverse perspectives. They consider the potential justifications for adopting a different approach when sentencing multiple offenders, one that results in more...

This chapter examines the retributivist approach to the sentencing of multiple offenders, with particular emphasis on the argument that retributive justice implies overall proportionality constraints—that is, proportionality prescriptions with regard to classes of offenses. It first presents a few initial conceptual considerations concerning the no...

The aim of this chapter is to provide an introduction to a recent example of applied ethics, namely, the discussion of how and when neuroscientific knowledge and technology should be used in the work of the criminal justice system. More precisely, an overview is provided of the ethical challenges that arise from the use of brain imaging and brain i...

When does neuroimaging constitute a sufficiently developed technology to be put into use in the work of determining whether or not a defendant is guilty of crime? This question constitutes the starting point of the present paper. First, it is suggested that an overall answer is provided by what is referred to as the "ideal comparative view." Second...

This special issue of The Journal of Ethics is devoted to ethical considerations of the use of neuroscience in the criminal justice system. In this introduction, an overview is provided of the different topics dealt with in the volume.

That responsible moral agency presupposes certain mental capacities, constitutes a widely accepted view among theorists. Moreover, it is often assumed that degrees in the development of the relevant capacities co-vary with degrees of responsibility. In this article it is argued that, the move from the view that responsibility requires certain menta...

Should an adolescent offender be punished more leniently than an adult offender? Many theorists believe the answer to be in the affirmative. According to the diminished culpability model, adolescents are less mature than adults and, therefore, less responsible for their wrongdoings and should consequently be punished less harshly. This article conc...

A traditional overall distinction between the various versions of retributive theories of punishment is that between positive and negative retributivism. This article addresses the question of what positive retributivism – and thus the obligation to punish perpetrators – implies for a society in which the state has many other types of obligation (e...

Is it morally acceptable to instigate criminal offenders to participate in rehabilitative treatment by offering treatment in return for early release from prison? Some theorists have supported such treatment schemes by pointing to the beneficial consequences that follow from the treatment. Others have suggested that the schemes are unacceptably coe...

This chapter focuses on one theoretical alternative to retributivism. It considers the version of desert-adjusted consequentialism that has been most thoroughly developed by its recent advocates, namely, desert-adjusted utilitarianism. The chapter is organized as follows. Section I presents the theory and outlines some of its implications with rega...

According to the main argument in favour of the practice of racial profiling as a low enforcement tactic, the use of race as a targeting factor helps the police to apprehend more criminals. In the following, this argument is challenged. It is argued that, given the assumption that criminals are currently being punished too severely in Western count...

Whether it is morally acceptable to offer rehabilitation by CNS-intervention to criminals as a condition for early release constitutes an important neuroethical question. Bomann-Larsen has recently suggested that such interventions are unacceptable if the offered treatment is not narrowly targeted at the behaviour for which the criminal is convicte...

Intergenerational Justice, edited by GosseriesAxel and MeyerLukas H.. Oxford University Press, 2009. ix + 419 pages. - Volume 27 Issue 1 - Jesper Ryberg

The purpose of this paper is to direct attention to a challenge—referred to as the threshold challenge—facing a non-absolutist retributivist view on international criminal justice. It is argued, on the one hand, that this challenge constitutes a practically pertinent problem for the retributivist approach to the punishment of mass crimes and, on th...

Over the past four decades philosophical attention has been directed to the ethical questions that arise when one’s actions will affect the identity or number of people that will come into existence. This consideration has become known as population ethics. A pivotal point in the discussion of population ethical issues is the Repugnant Conclusion w...

A collection of original contributions by philosophers working in the ethics of punishment, gathering new perspectives on various challenging topics including punishment and forgiveness, dignity, discrimination, public opinion, torture, rehabilitation, and restitution. © Jesper Ryberg and J. Angelo Corlett 2010, their authors 2010.

Should rape be punished more severely than other types of violent crime? Are white-collar crimes generally punished too leniently in comparison with other sorts of crime? And, if a prior criminal record should count when punishments are meted out, then how much harder should the recidivist be punished compared to a first-time criminal? Such questio...