Money and the Governance of Punishment ― A Genealogy of the Penal Fine

Money is the most frequently means used in the legal system to punish, deter and regulate. Monetary penalties outnumber all other sanctions delivered by criminal justice in many jurisdictions, imprisonment included. Many more people pay fines than go to prison and in some jurisdictions many of those in prison are there because of failure to pay their fines. Therefore, it is surprising how little has been written in the Anglophone academic world about the nature of money sanctions and their specific characteristics as legal sanctions.

In many ways, legal innovations related to money sanctions have been poorly understood. This book argues that this is a direct consequence of the changing meaning of money. Considering the ‘meaninglessness’ of modern money, the book discusses why contemporary penal governance is less concerned with disciplining individuals or corporations and more concerned with regulating flows of behaviours and the costs associated with these. This book considers the governmental rationalities behind the use of money sanctions; how governance through money sanctions disseminates in consumer societies; and implications for crime control strategy.

Patricia Faraldo Cabana is Professor for Criminal Law at the University of A Coruna, in Spain, and Adjunct Professor at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia