“Promoting Proportionality Through Sentencing Guidelines”

The title of this post is the title of this short new paper authored by Julian V. Roberts now available via SSRN.  Here is its abstract:

This paper explores the ways that sentencing guidelines, properly constructed, can promote proportionality at sentencing.  The essay uses the sentencing guidelines created in England and Wales to illustrate the potential benefits, and challenges, associated with this method of structuring judicial discretion at sentencing.