Dawinder Sidhu (University of Maryland at Shady Grove) has published "Addiction x Criminal Law" on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
As moral considerations, social attitudes, and scientific knowledge evolve as to a specific issue, so too must legal principles governing that issue. This Article aims to update the relationship between addiction and criminal law. It draws on traditional legal sources and modern addiction-specific sources little-known to the legal community (including twelve-step meetings, intensive drug treatment programs, and experimental drug courts) to make two arguments: first, that an individual with an alcohol or drug disease retains choice and the culpability required for legal responsibility, and as such the en banc Fourth Circuit was wrong to categorically immunize the individual with an addiction from criminal punishment for conduct that is symptomatic of the disease; and second, that an individual with alcohol or drug disease must be permitted to show that specific circumstances render criminal punishment inappropriate, and as such the prevailing majority approach is wrong for asking only whether the individual has committed an act and not exploring the nature of the offense conduct.
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