Putting someone in jail for a crime stops them from committing the same crime for exactly the length of time they spend in jail.
Barring someone from working in a given industry, meanwhile, stops them from ever having the opportunity to commit the same crime again.
If a lawyer goes to jail for fraud, you don't want them to still be a lawyer when they get out, do you? This isn't like regular crimes (e.g. crimes of passion); fraud, blackmail, etc. are extremely deliberate and intellectual acts, and the type of person who decides to do them doesn't tend to suddenly happen upon any more scruples later on in life.
Of course, you could just say that we can make it part of the legal punishment of the criminal that they can never work in a given industry again (like we do for e.g. hackers). But is the government setting the terms of what is or isn't "work in that industry" better than actual industry-members setting those terms? Right now, people convicted of "hacking" aren't even allowed to own computers, for the most part. Doesn't seem like the government really knows what it's doing there.
Plus, allowing industries to self-regulate using guild licensing allows for enforcement of things besides strict legal criminal penalties. For example, the Society of Engineers can kick you out if you intentionally sign off on something as safe when you know it's not. That's not illegal—you'll go to jail if the building/bridge/etc. falls down; but if it doesn't, you're "safe" from criminal prosecution. But if the Society of Engineers finds out, then you're not a capital-E Engineer any more, and now all your signed-off-on documents will have to be rechecked.
2. Why wouldn’t I want them to still be a lawyer? I do not believe that everyone who commits a crime (and is caught, and convicted) is morally corrupt for the rest of her life.
My issue with police misconduct is that it is institutionalized and practically protected and normalized.
Is this the case with malpractice?
I’d think that the army-like bonding of police officers is a part of the reason for letting a lot of issues slide. Is there a similar phenomenon with lawyers?
Barring someone from working in a given industry, meanwhile, stops them from ever having the opportunity to commit the same crime again.
If a lawyer goes to jail for fraud, you don't want them to still be a lawyer when they get out, do you? This isn't like regular crimes (e.g. crimes of passion); fraud, blackmail, etc. are extremely deliberate and intellectual acts, and the type of person who decides to do them doesn't tend to suddenly happen upon any more scruples later on in life.
Of course, you could just say that we can make it part of the legal punishment of the criminal that they can never work in a given industry again (like we do for e.g. hackers). But is the government setting the terms of what is or isn't "work in that industry" better than actual industry-members setting those terms? Right now, people convicted of "hacking" aren't even allowed to own computers, for the most part. Doesn't seem like the government really knows what it's doing there.
Plus, allowing industries to self-regulate using guild licensing allows for enforcement of things besides strict legal criminal penalties. For example, the Society of Engineers can kick you out if you intentionally sign off on something as safe when you know it's not. That's not illegal—you'll go to jail if the building/bridge/etc. falls down; but if it doesn't, you're "safe" from criminal prosecution. But if the Society of Engineers finds out, then you're not a capital-E Engineer any more, and now all your signed-off-on documents will have to be rechecked.