Recognising State Blame at Sentencing: A Communicative and Relational Framework

30 Pages Posted: 23 Oct 2022

See all articles by Marie Manikis

Marie Manikis

McGill University - Faculty of Law

Date Written: September 22, 2022

Abstract

Censure, blame and harms are central concepts in sentencing that have evolved over the years to take into account social context and experiential knowledge. Flexibility, however, remains limited as the current analysis in sentencing focuses on the offender while failing to engage with the state's contribution in creating wrongs and harms. This risks giving rise to defective practices of responsibility since the state can also contribute to their production. The following article presents a complementary and additional framework within sentencing to account for state censure, blame and harms. The framework is rooted in communicative theories of punishment that integrate a responsive understanding of censure and a relational account of responsibility.

Keywords: censure, state, blame, harms, communicative, sentencing

Suggested Citation

Manikis, Marie, Recognising State Blame at Sentencing: A Communicative and Relational Framework (September 22, 2022). (2022) 81:2 Cambridge Law Journal 294-322., McGill SGI Research Papers in Business, Finance, Law and Society Research Paper No. 2023-16, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4251614

Marie Manikis (Contact Author)

McGill University - Faculty of Law ( email )

3644 Peel Street
Montreal H3A 1W9, Quebec H3A 1W9
Canada

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