"Law Like Love"

A few months ago, I mentioned a recent paper, "Law Like Love," by ASU's Professor Jeffrie Murphy.  Here, finally, is a link to the (wonderful) paper.  Here is the abstract:

This lecture seeks to open a discussion of the question: What would law - particularly criminal law - be like if we regarded love (agape) as the first virtue of social and legal institutions? The lecture discusses punishment - including capital punishment - in a framework of love, and critically considers the claim frequently made that love-based forgiveness is inconsistent with capital punishment and perhaps with all punishment.

Murphy's paper seems particularly timely in light of the rich conversation we and other bloggers had a few weeks ago about punishment theory, love, desert, and suffering.

Rick