The Model Penal Code, Legal Process, and the Alegitimacy of American Penality

Abstract

Abstract The Model Penal Code, drafted under the auspices of Herbert Wechsler, is the most significant text in the history of American criminal law. Yet, in an important and revealing sense, it is not a foundational text in modern criminal law. What’s more, it is significant precisely for that reason. This chapter tries to capture the significance of the Model Penal Code—or, to call it by its full name, the Model Penal and Correctional Code—by explaining why it is not foundational. Along the way, the chapter hopes to shed some light on the history and complexion of American penality and, with any luck, even on modern penality in general, on the Model Penal Code’s, and therefore also Wechsler’s, place in modern criminal law.