American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
The Economics of Rights: Does the Right to Counsel Increase Crime?
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 9,
no. 2, May 2017
(pp. 1–27)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
We examine the broad consequences of the right to counsel by exploiting a legal reform in Israel that extended the right to publicly provided legal counsel to suspects in arrest proceedings. Using the staggered regional rollout of the reform, we find that the reform reduced arrest duration and the likelihood of arrestees being charged. We also find that the reform reduced the number of arrests made by the police. Lastly, we find that the reform increased crime. These findings indicate that the right to counsel improves suspects' situation, but discourages the police from making arrests, which results in higher crime.Citation
Ater, Itai, Yehonatan Givati, and Oren Rigbi. 2017. "The Economics of Rights: Does the Right to Counsel Increase Crime?" American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 9 (2): 1–27. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20160027Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- K10 Basic Areas of Law: General (Constitutional Law)
- K41 Litigation Process
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
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