Crossword Genius

Think highly of debauched peers when appearing before court (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

respect

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'think highly of' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'debauched peers when appearing before court' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
an anagram of 'peers' is 'respe' which is located in the answer.
'court' could be 'ct' (abbreviation used in road names) and 'ct' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for respect that I've seen before include "Deference, obedience" , "Particular, esteem" , "Look up to" , "value" , "Spectre (anag.)" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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