Mitigation and Aggravation at Sentencing

Julian V. Roberts

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9780521197809
• eBook ISBN:
  9781139153676
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Criminal Law
• Index: Law

This innovative volume explores a fundamental issue in the field of sentencing: the factors which make a sentence more or less severe. All sentencing systems allow courts discretion to consider mitigating and aggravating factors, and many legislatures have placed a number of such factors on a statutory footing. Yet many questions remain regarding the theory and practice of mitigation and aggravation. Drawing on legal and sociological perspectives and examining mitigation and aggravation in various jurisdictions, the essays provide practical illustrations of specific factors as well as theoretical justifications. After the foreword by Andrew von Hirsch, a number of contributors address broad conceptual issues raised at sentencing. These contributions are followed by several empirical chapters including an exploration of personal mitigation in English courts. The authors are leading scholars from a range of common law jurisdictions including England and Wales, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Table of contents

• Cover
• MITIGATION AND AGGRAVATION AT SENTENCING
• CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN LAW AND SOCIETY
• TITLE
• COPYRIGHT
• CONTENTS
• TABLES
• CONTRIBUTORS
• FOREWORD
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• CHAPTER ONE PUNISHING, MORE OR LESS: EXPLORING AGGRAVATION AND MITIGATION AT SENTENCING
• CHAPTER TWO RE-EVALUATING THE JUSTIFICATIONS FOR AGGRAVATION AND MITIGATION AT SENTENCING
• CHAPTER THREE THE SEARCH FOR PRINCIPLES OF MITIGATION: INTEGRATING CULTURAL DEMANDS
• CHAPTER FOUR PERSONAL MITIGATION AND ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT OFFENDING AND DESISTANCE
• CHAPTER FIVE INTOXICATION AS A SENTENCING FACTOR: MITIGATION OR AGGRAVATION?
• CHAPTER SIX BEYOND THE PARTIAL EXCUSE: AUSTRALASIAN APPROACHES TO PROVOCATION AS A SENTENCING FACTOR
• CHAPTER SEVEN EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW: RACIAL AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND FACTORS AS SOURCES OF MITIGATION AT SENTENCING
• CHAPTER EIGHT PERSONAL MITIGATION: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS IN ENGLAND AND WALES
• CHAPTER NINE EXPLORING PUBLIC ATTITUDES TO SENTENCING FACTORS IN ENGLAND AND WALES
• CHAPTER TEN THE PERNICIOUS IMPACT OF PERCEIVED PUBLIC OPINION ON SENTENCING: FINDINGS FROM AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE PUBLIC’S APPROACH TO PERSONAL MITIGATION
• CHAPTER ELEVEN ADDRESSING PROBLEMATIC SENTENCING FACTORS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES
• CHAPTER TWELVE PROOF OF AGGRAVATING AND MITIGATING FACTS AT SENTENCING
• CHAPTER THIRTEEN MITIGATION IN FEDERAL SENTENCING IN THE UNITED STATES
• CHAPTER FOURTEEN THE DISCRETIONARY EFFECT OF MITIGATING AND AGGRAVATING FACTORS: A SOUTH AFRICAN CASE STUDY
• INDEX