Sentencing the Self-Convicted
The Ethics of Pleading Guilty
- 320 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
This book addresses the fundamental ethical and legal aspects, penal consequences, and social context arising from a citizen's acceptance of guilt. The focus is upon sentencing people who have pleaded guilty; in short, post-adjudication, rather than issues arising from discussions in the pretrial phase of the criminal process. The vast majority of defendants across all common law jurisdictions plead guilty and as a result receive a reduced sentence. Concessions by a defendant attract more lenient State punishment in all western legal systems. The concession is significant: At a stroke, a guilty plea relieves the State of the burden of proving the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and in open court. Plea-based sentencing has become even more visible in recent years. The book provides insightful commentary on the following questions:
- If an individual voluntarily accepts guilt, should the State receive this plea without further investigation or any disinterested adjudication?
- Is it ethically acceptable to allow suspects and defendants, to self-convict in this manner, without independent confirmation and evidence to support a conviction?
- If it is acceptable, what is the appropriate State response to such offenders?
- If the defendant is detained pretrial, the ability to secure release in return for a plea may be particularly enticing. Might it be too enticing, resulting in wrongful convictions?
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- Contributors
- 1. The Ethics of Pleading Guilty and the State Response to Self-convicting Offenders
- 2. When Should We Plead Guilty?
- 3. Guilty Plea Sentencing Discounts and Retributivism
- 4. Guilty Pleas, Sentence Reductions, and Non-punishment of the Innocent
- 5. Rewarding Virtue: An Ethical Defence of Plea-based Sentence Reductions
- 6. The Limited Moral Relevance of Pleas and Verdicts
- 7. The Guilty Plea and Self-respect
- 8. Why Should Guilty Pleas Matter?
- 9. Victim-related Assumptions Underlying Plea-based Sentence Reductions: A Communicative and Experiential Framework
- 10. Plea-based Sentence Reductions: Legal Assumptions and Empirical Realities
- 11. Plea Negotiations and Mitigation
- 12. Guilty Pleas, Fools’ Bargains, and Wonderful Justice
- Index
- Copyright Page