About the project
The US system is often compared with European countries where, in contrast, criminal law makes convicting a defendant easier, but then places more limitations on how much a person can be punished, and in what ways. One critique of US criminal law is that it emphasizes procedural protections at the expense of substantive ones. A result is that criminal defendants have rights while being prosecuted but, once convicted, have few protections from punishment.
The purpose of this project is to test this critique by examining the disciplinary processes and practices inside prisons. Once a person is convicted and sentenced to prison, what protects them from punishment for rule violations?
Method
The primary method is legal analysis. This project will compare the legal schemes for prison discipline in both the US and Norway to those countries’ respective criminal law regimes, and also to each other. The project might also use more sociological methods to attempt to understand how the systems work in practice.
Objectives
The project aims to improve our understanding of how the state convicts and punishes law-breakers in both countries. Ideas about relative harshness, or dissimilarities between US and Norwegian prisons, will be tested.
Project period
This project will run from 2023 to 2026.
Financing
This project is funded by the University of Oslo.