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The Relevance of Remorse in Sentencing:A Reply to Bagaric and Amarasekara (and Duff)

Tudor, Steven
June 4, 2015

Source: (2005) Deakin Law Review, 10 (2);760-770

[In their 2001 article “Feeling Sorry? — Tell Someone Who Cares: The Irrelevance of Remorse in Sentencing”, Bagaric and Amarasekara argue
that offender remorse should be abandoned as a mitigating factor in sentencing because it lacks adequate doctrinal support. The present article
argues that Bagaric and Amarasekara’s survey of reasons for remorse being
a mitigating factor is not wide enough, and, moreover, that their arguments
against the reasons that they do consider are, at least, controversial. In the course of this reply, the present article also replies to
arguments against remorse as a mitigating factor put forward by R. A. Duff.] Author’s Abstract

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