Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-788cddb947-kc5xb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-13T15:12:31.716Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Public Opinion and Sentence Discounts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2022

Kevin Cheng
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Get access

Summary

This chapter turns its attention to public opinion. A justification given for the sliding scale of sentence discounts for guilty pleas is that encouraging early guilty pleas is in the public interest. Yet extant research on public confidence in the courts and attitudes towards sentencing reveals that the public frequently perceives sentences as being ‘too lenient’. Consequently, while the aim of sentence discounts for guilty pleas is bolstering efficiency and promoting public confidence, they may actually have the adverse effect of reducing sentences that the public already considers too lenient. This chapter begins by examining the role that public opinion plays in sentencing before reviewing existing literature on public confidence in the courts and attitudes towards sentencing. The chapter also reviews the limited literature on public attitudes towards plea bargaining and sentence discounts. It then shows that the public is not supportive of sentence discounts for guilty pleas, especially large sentence reductions.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Timing of Guilty Pleas
Lessons from Common Law Jurisdictions
, pp. 175 - 193
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×