Admissions of Guilt and Expressions of Remorse: Sentencing and Parole Hearings

Abstract

Abstract This chapter shows that in the final stages of the criminal legal process, admissions of guilt and expressions of remorse are extracted from those who are innocent at sentencing hearings and in front of parole boards. The right of allocution, which permits a criminal defendant to speak at his own sentencing hearing, may be thought to provide defendants with a robust role to play in their destinies. But the reality is that defendants are told not only what not to say at such hearings, but also what to say and how to say it, and failure to comply often results in more time behind bars. Moreover, once admissions of guilt and expressions of remorse are extracted, they play a normatively oversized role in sentencing. Similar issues arise at parole hearings, where assertions of innocence and the failure to admit guilt and express remorse are significant barriers to being granted parole.