Should “lack of remorse” justify a higher sentence?

This piece from the Canadian Press provides the latest news in the run-up to next week’s sentencing of Conrad Black.  Here are some details:

Conrad Black’s lack of remorse following his conviction for fraud and obstruction of justice should be factored into next week’s sentencing and possibly result in a harsher punishment, U.S. prosecutors said. “To this day, Black maintains his offences of conviction were ‘rubbish’ and ‘nonsense,’ and that the criminal justice system is ‘essentially a substitute for a wealth-redistribution policy,”‘ lead prosecutor Eric Sussman said in a court filing late Monday….

Prosecutors said the judge should consider specific comments made in Men’s Vogue and BBC Radio – where just last week Black said spending any time behind bars would “compound the injustice” of his criminal trial….

James Morton, president of the Ontario Bar Association, said he believed Judge Amy St. Eve “will be too smart to get really annoyed” on Black’s comments, but cautioned making such statements “doesn’t sing well.”

Most participants and observers of sentencing realities will say that true remorse generally should, and typically will, mitigate an offender’s punishment.  But there is more debate over whether a distinct lack of remorse ought to be an aggravating sentencing factor.

Also lurking in the Black sentencing are interesting post-Booker ex post facto issues.  The Seventh Circuit has held that, after Booker, courts should apply the most recent guidelines, but Black’s lawyers seems to be fighting the application of harsher guidelines that post-date his criminal activity.