Sentencing Ethically

Abstract The work of Julian V Roberts conveys a deep ethical sensibility that marks him out as one of the most humane sentencing scholars of our time. This chapter brings into focus the subtler ethical dimension of Roberts’ scholarship and evaluates its significance. It does so with reference to three distinctive strands of his work: first, on the sentencing of women, second, on guilty pleas, and third, on ‘second look’ sentence reviews for long-term prisoners. There, we find an implicit commitment to moral principles and values including fairness, respect, and hope, together with a distinctive orientation towards them that is worthy of sustained attention. In Roberts’ worldview, fairness, respect, and hope are not merely analytic ideals but institutional commitments: grounded, pragmatic, and attainable, with immediate implications for sentencing practice and reform. No doubt our honorand has left an indelible mark on sentencing scholarship and practice on the global stage. It is less often observed, however, that Roberts has become one of the great mediators of our discipline, appealing to pragmatists and normative theorists alike and foregrounding both styles of scholarship in the collaborative projects he has led. Only at first glance are Roberts’ writings on criminal justice principally and inescapably pragmatic. On closer inspection, Roberts gives important contextual cues—especially in his more recent works—that he is also an ethicist of the highest calibre, with profound insights to offer on the moral rights and wrongs of the sentencing court.