Skylar's Law: memorial crime policy and mediating argument spheres

Abstract

ABSTRACTCrime policy is often created as a reaction to victimization, influenced by personal sphere arguments, and without much consultation with or assessment by technical experts. This is especially true for “memorial crime” policies such as the AMBER Alert expansion, “Skylar's Law” in West Virginia. By analyzing the Judiciary Committee Meeting for Skylar's Law, we show how personal sphere arguments and parental testimony framed and transformed deliberation of the bill's merits into an epideictic moment to honor Skylar. Laws influenced by epideictic norms are problematic as costs and consequences are not addressed. We argue better criminal justice policy requires balancing personal and technical argument spheres, and that legislators should employ phronesis—enacting expertise to mediate public deliberation to address both normative and factual arguments related to the policy.