ABSTRACT
If the account we have been developing is correct, sentencing, like enforcement generally, has three functions: to demonstrate widespread willingness to obey the law, conjoined with commitment to conscientious enforcement; to persuade those who might otherwise not obey the law to do so; and to enable those who might not otherwise obey the law to do so. We have seen that to approach sentencing this way not only allows us to link sentencing to a broader set of enforcement principles, it also fits with and allows us to explain the commitment of modern legal systems to the principle of responsibility in determining guilt and the role of mitigating and aggravating circumstances in assessing the seriousness of offences. But does it fit modern sentencing and correctional practices? Investigating this question is our task in this chapter.
