Sentencing

Starter

What sentence should these have got?

1. Men sentenced for killing inmate2. Conspiring to supply drugs3. Cooking a hamster in a microwave4. Racial abuse5. Causing death by dangerous driving

Why Sentence?

Why do we sentence people?

Aims of SentencingThe purposes of adult sentencing were set out in statute for the first time in s142 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which provides that:

Any court dealing with an offender in respect of his offence must have regard to the following purposes of sentencing—

(a) the punishment of offenders, (b) the reduction of crime (including its reduction by deterrence), (c) the reform and rehabilitation of offenders, (d) the protection of the public, and (e) the making of reparation by offenders to persons affected by their offences.

The 6 Main Reasons

Retribution/PunishmentDeterrenceReform/rehabilitationProtection of the public/incapacitationReparationDenunciation

Deterrence

Specific deterrence is concerned with punishing an individual offender in the expectation that he will not offend again.

General deterrence is related to the possibility that people in general will be deterred from committing crime by the threat of punishment if they are caught.

Examples: Prison sentence/long prison sentence , Heavy fine

DeterrenceQuick Question:Do you think deterrence works?Let’s consider Lord Ahmed’s case.

The effectiveness of deterrence is linked to the perceived likelihood of being caughtOffenders may not stop and think before they commit crimesGeneral deterrence depends on publicity given for exemplary sentences

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/7909510.stm

Activity 1

Consider whether fear of punishment is likely to deter individuals from committing offences in each of the situations that follow.

Note your answers down on a sheet of paper and be ready to support your answers with logical arguments.

Activity 1

1. A convicted burglar walking past a luxury home in the quiet residential street that has keys left in the front door.

2. A Real IRA terrorist who is plotting to plant a car bomb in a major city.

3. The father of two children who is invited to take part in a plan to smuggle a large consignment of heroin into the country.

4. An extremely intoxicated man.5. A woman who has suffered years of Physical

abuse at the hands of her husband is standing in the kitchen. She knows that her husband is about to attack and sees a row of knives in a kitchen rack within range.

The Burglar

A burglar may not stop and think before committing the crime as he is unable to resist the opportunity to enter the home easily.

This is an example of a crime committed on impulse.

Here fear of punishment will not deter someone.

The Terrorist

The terrorist may not be deterred by the prospect of criminal punishment as he may think he is unlikely to be caught.

Terrorist bombs are often detonated by remote control

The fatherThe father is likely to have

learnt from the media that those involved in drug dealing run the risk of receiving heavy custodial sentences. This may be a specific deterrent.

Exemplary sentences are often passed on drug dealers

Many people still think the sentences are too soft

The Drunk Man

The intoxicated man will most certainly not stop and think much before he commits a crime.

Fear of punishment will not deter him.

The abused woman

This woman may act on impulse as she is so distressed.

Fear of punishment will have very little deterrent effect.

However, she knows that if she kills him, she faces a life sentence. The life sentence for murder may act as a deterrent here.

Person with a low mental age

This person may simply not understand what will happen if they are convicted of a crime.

The treat of punishment will not act as a deterrent

Retribution

Retribution rests on the notion that if a person has knowingly done wrong, he or she deserves to be punished

‘an eye for an eye’ The state satisfied this need through retributive sentences e.g. public executions

This idea was at the heart of the previous Conservative Government's White Paper "Crime, Justice and Protecting the Public" (1990). The Government's aim, repeated several times, was to ensure that convicted criminals receive their 'just deserts'. This led to the Criminal Justice Act introducing new sentencing rules to be used by the court. Now what we have is a tariff system, where the Sentencing Guidelines Council produces guidelines for certain offences.. An example in the early 19th century was

Incapacitation

This is also used for the protection of the public. The principle behind this sentence is that the punishment must serve a useful purpose.

Incapacitation means that in some way the offender is made incapable of re-offending. Examples are driving bans and curfews.

Discussion: Do you think they are fair and do they work?

Lee Ryan (formerly of Blue) got a driving ban

Reparation This is aimed at compensating

the victim of the crime, usually by ordering the offender to pay a sum of money to the victim or to make restitution, for example returning stolen property.

Some projects have also included bring together the offender and the victim to make a direct reparation, so that they can make contact.

The idea of restitution includes making reparation to society as a whole, usually in the form of community punishment orders where offenders are required to work a certain amount of hours on a community project whilst being supervised.

Denunciation

Denunciation is a way of showing society’s disapproval of criminal activity. The sentence

has a message to both the defendant and the public, i.e. society condemns that type of

behaviour and justice is being done.

News Reports

Look at the news reports, what are your opinions.

Judge for Yourself

http://www.directgov.coionline.tv/judgeforyourself/

Activity 2

Complete the handout regarding aims of sentencing.