Sentencing the Self-Convicted: The Ethics of Pleading Guilty

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This book addresses the fundamental ethical and legal aspects, penal consequences, and social context arising from a citizens 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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Julian Roberts and Jesper Ryberg have assembled an estimable group of scholars whose contributions address a range of issues related to the submission of guilty pleas (or in some legal regimes, admissions of guilt) by individuals charged with crimes. As the essays in this valuable collection reveal, sentencing the self-convicted is controversial in ways that reveal deeper fault lines among penal and criminal procedure theorists. -- Richard L. Lippke * Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books *

Author Bio

Julian V Roberts is Professor of Criminology at the University of Oxford, UK. Jesper Ryberg is Professor of Ethics and Philosophy of Law at Roskilde University, Denmark.