Must Like Cases Be Treated Alike
Must Like Cases Be Treated Alike
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必须同等对待类似案件
DOI：
10.2139/ssrn.312180
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发表时间：
2002
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
D. Strauss
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
D. Strauss
“同类案件同等对待”的原则是一个古老的原则，它往往被视为法治原则。这一原则在现代行政国家中具有特别重要的意义，在现代行政国家中，可以进行具体的改革，以确保以同样的方式处理无法区分的案件。量刑指南是这种改革的一个例子，努力减少陪审团在确定责任和损害赔偿方面的差异也是如此。本文的论点是，没有一般性的要求，同样的情况下，同样对待。有时，出于偶然原因，例如为了避免不统一处理可能造成的经济混乱，或为了防止歧视或任意性，应同样对待类似的案件。但是，这些理由是否适用取决于具体情况;它们并不能证明对同类案件一视同仁的一般要求是合理的。有一种普遍的直觉认为，对类似案件区别对待是不公平的。但仔细研究，公平（或“完整性”）并不要求同样的情况得到同样的对待;它只要求任何差异都是可以独立证明的程序的结果。这就是为什么我们有时毫无困难地接受，如果生活在不同的政治社区或在不同的家庭中长大，情况相同的人可能会受到不同的待遇。事实上，同样的案件必须得到同样对待的一般性要求可能会使不公正永久化：这将要求在一个案件中取得的不公正结果在未来的类似案件中得到复制而不是纠正。
The principle "treat like cases alike" is an ancient one, and it has often been identified with the rule of law. The principle has special importance in the modern administrative state, in which specific reforms might be undertaken to ensure that indistinguishable cases are treated in the same way. The sentencing guidelines are one example of such a reform, as are efforts to reduce disparities in jury determinations of liability and damages. The argument in this paper is that there is no general requirement that like cases be treated alike. Sometimes like cases should be treated alike for contingent reasons, such as to avoid economic dislocations that might result from nonuniform treatment, or to prevent discrimination or arbitrariness. But whether those reasons apply depends on the specific circumstances; they do not justify a general requirement that like cases be treated alike. There is a widespread intuition that it is unfair to treat like cases differently. But on closer examination fairness (or "integrity") does not require that like cases be treated alike; it only requires that any differences be the result of procedures that can be independently justified. That is why we accept, sometimes without difficulty, that otherwise identically situated people might be treated differently if they live in different political communities or grew up in different families. In fact, a general requirement that like cases be treated alike can perpetuate injustice: it will require that an unjust result, reached in one case, be replicated rather than corrected in future similar cases.