“Rule Complexity, Story Complexity, Mercy & Hope”

The title of this post is the title of this new essay now available via SSRN authored by Mark William Osler. Here is its abstract:

Criminal Law is about rules and stories.  This article is about how those two things — rules and stories — intersect, tangle up, and oppose one another, a dance that shapes the way we limit the freedom of others through the processes of criminal law.  In very broad strokes, rule complexity is a tool of power and a driver of incarceration, while story complexity more often offers mercy and hope for those subjected to the criminal justice system.