Sentencing the Self-Convicted

The Ethics of Pleading Guilty

Julian V Roberts, Jesper Ryberg

• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9781509957439
• eBook ISBN:
  9781509957446
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Diritto
• Subtopic: Sentenze

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?

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