The fair-play theory of punishment claims that the state is justified in imposing additional burdens on law-breakers, to remove the unfair advantage the latter have enjoyed by disobeying the law. From this perspective, punishment reestablishes a fair distribution of benefits and burdens among all citizens. In this paper, I object to this view by focusing on the case of civil disobedience. I argue that the mere illegality of this conduct is insufficient to establish the agent’s unfair advantage over his lawabiding fellows, hence the imposition of additional burdens upon him through legal punishment. I articulate a broader account of citizens’ fair-play duties, able to capture disobedience as well as obedience to the law. While claiming that some law-breakers may not be treated as free-riders, I also gesture at the fact that some law-obeying citizens may not be ‘playing fair’: in some cases, a failure to engage in civil disobedience represents a failure to do one’s own part within the cooperative scheme of society.

中文翻译：

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惩罚、公平竞争和公民的负担

惩罚的公平竞争理论声称，国家有理由对违法者施加额外的负担，以消除后者因不遵守法律而享有的不公平优势。从这个角度来看，惩罚重建了所有公民之间利益和负担的公平分配。在本文中，我通过关注公民不服从的案例来反对这种观点。我争辩说，仅仅这种行为的违法性不足以确立代理人相对于他的守法同伴的不公平优势，因此通过法律惩罚对他施加了额外的负担。我对公民的公平竞争义务进行了更广泛的阐述，能够捕捉到不服从和遵守法律的情况。在声称某些违法者可能不会被视为搭便车者的同时，