The Place of Repentance in Retributive Sentencing

Abstract

This manuscript sets forth the normative reasons for taking repentance into account in the frame of criminal retributive sentencing. It claims that change that takes place in people should be recognized as a relevant measure for our attitude toward them. The web of social relations among offender, victim, and society needs to permeate the criminal justice system and the considerations of punishment that it includes. Moreover, repentance may change not only one's future but also illuminate her past. If a person has a right to be punished as a consequence from her being a rational moral agent she may also repent her offense as an autonomous person.

Keywords: repentance, retributive sentencing