Zachary Hoskins

Zachary Hoskins's current research examines so-called 'collateral' restrictions on those with criminal records. It is well-known that people convicted of crimes may be subject to punishment (incarceration, fines, community service, etc.); what is less well-known is that these people also face a host of other legal restrictions, on employment, the vote, housing, and other goods. The law doesn't treat these collateral restrictions as part of an offender's formal punishment, but they are often more burdensome than the punishment itself, and they may persist well after the term of punishment has been completed. Hoskins's work asks why, if offenders 'pay their debts' to society when they are punished, the state is justified in imposing additional burdens that extend beyond the punishment itself? His article, 'Ex-Offenders Restrictions', was published in Journal of Applied Philosophy (2014), and he is now working on a book on this topic for Oxford University Press.

Hoskins has also written widely about the justification of punishment itself (What justifies punishment? How much punishment is justified in particular cases? Should the international community punish states for mass crimes?) and has published articles in Criminal Law and Philosophy (2011), Criminal Justice Ethics (2013), and International Criminal Law Review (2014), among others.