Talk Title: 'Corrupt Citizenship: Citizenship Sanctions and the Transforming Functions of Criminal Law'

Discussant: Dorothy Degabriele

Abstract: The paper introduces and develops the notion of citizenship sanctions, a presently undefined category of legal restrictions that are prompted by a criminal act, but which deviate substantially from conventional types of punishment. The key trait of citizenship sanctions is that they seek to censure the character of the offender, rather than their act: through particular legal definitions they furthermore target offenders not merely as humans, but in their special role as citizens, thereby constructing a peculiar virtue-based version of citizenship. Such merger of criminal law with citizenship norms whereby criminal law is ill-used to construct and uphold the moral boundaries of a political community, signals a notable transformation of its key functions, and should thus be normatively scrutinized.