Sentencing the Self-Convicted: The Ethics of Pleading Guilty

Criminal Law

Sentencing the Self-Convicted: The Ethics of Pleading Guilty

Edited by Julian V. Roberts · Jesper Ryberg
Hart Publishing February 2023

Specifications

ISBN-13
9781509957439
Publisher
Hart Publishing
Publication
February 2023
Format
Hardback
Jurisdiction
U.K. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Also available as

Paperback

Details

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

1. The Ethics of Guilty Pleas: Setting the Stage (Introduction)
Julian V Roberts (University of Oxford, UK) and Jesper Ryberg (Roskilde University, Denmark)
2. Why Should Guilty Pleas Matter?
Thom Brooks (Durham University, UK)
3. Guilty Pleas and Sentencing Reductions: Are Retributivist Objections Valid?
Jesper Ryberg (Roskilde University, Denmark)
4. When, Why, and How We Should Plead Guilty
RA Duff (University of Stirling, UK)
5. The Limited Moral Relevance of Guilty Pleas and Verdicts
Adam Kolber (Brooklyn Law School, USA)
6. The Guilty Plea and Self-Respect
Gabrielle Watson (University of Oxford, UK)
7. Guilty Pleas, Moral Agents, and the Efficiency of the Criminal Justice System
Zachary Hoskins (University of Nottingham, UK)
8. Guilty Pleas and the Confessional State
Leo Zaibert (Union College, USA)
9. A Contextual and Individualised Understanding of Guilty Pleas at Sentencing
Marie Manikis (McGill University, Canada)
10. In Defence of Plea-Based Sentence Reductions
Julian V Roberts (University of Oxford, UK) and Netanel Dagan (Hebrew University, Israel)
11. Plea-Based Sentence Reductions: Normative Arguments and Empirical Realities
Rebecca Helm (University of Exeter, UK)
12. Guilty Pleas as Mitigation
Mike Hough (Birkbeck, University of London, UK) and Jessica Jacobson (Birkbeck, University of London, UK)
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