Mandatory Sentencing Essay
Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?
Queensland Mandatory Sentencing
Good Morning Class, today I will be speaking on a issue that, due to recent changes in legislation has sparked both support and outrage within the greater Queensland community. The issue of course, being the notion of mandatory sentencing. In recent years, Queensland and other States, including New South Wales and Victoria, have introduced mandatory sentencing laws for certain types of offences. The Queensland Government is now proposing to adopt further mandatory sentencing laws, as a part of a range of measures to deal with alcohol and other related violence. During this presentation I will be addressing you firstly on the notion of mandatory sentencing, before delving …show more content…
a repeat offender). Usually, criminal laws in Australia set a maximum penalty for a particular crime, however a minimum penalty is generally not established. Judges therefore maintain discretion when deciding outcomes on a case by case basis. This decision is made by carefully studying the relevant laws which serve to outline the purposes of sentencing, the types of penalties available, and the range of factors to be taken into account including mitigating and aggravating factors when determining a suitable sentence.
Mandatory sentencing laws are not a completely new concept in Queensland or Australian criminal law. The abolition of the death penalty during the twentieth century resulted in almost all States and Territories adopting a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for murder. Although, since 1982 certain states such as New South Wales have turned to a more relaxed approach, mandatory life imprisonment remains the penalty for murder in Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory. (Austilli, …show more content…
The prevailing thought on why Mandatory sentences are in public favour is because they appeal on the basis that they provide consistency in sentencing, by removing the discretion of the judiciary to decide on the most appropriate sentence. However multiple cases across Australia, such as Crown V Manse 2004 - in which a homeless man was sentenced to 12 months prison after stealing a towel off a clothes line under Victoria’s three strike law – provide unequivocal evidence that a one size fits all approach serves to negatively impact the offender, on the basis of the punishment not fitting the
Queensland Mandatory Sentencing
Good Morning Class, today I will be speaking on a issue that, due to recent changes in legislation has sparked both support and outrage within the greater Queensland community. The issue of course, being the notion of mandatory sentencing. In recent years, Queensland and other States, including New South Wales and Victoria, have introduced mandatory sentencing laws for certain types of offences. The Queensland Government is now proposing to adopt further mandatory sentencing laws, as a part of a range of measures to deal with alcohol and other related violence. During this presentation I will be addressing you firstly on the notion of mandatory sentencing, before delving …show more content…
a repeat offender). Usually, criminal laws in Australia set a maximum penalty for a particular crime, however a minimum penalty is generally not established. Judges therefore maintain discretion when deciding outcomes on a case by case basis. This decision is made by carefully studying the relevant laws which serve to outline the purposes of sentencing, the types of penalties available, and the range of factors to be taken into account including mitigating and aggravating factors when determining a suitable sentence.
Mandatory sentencing laws are not a completely new concept in Queensland or Australian criminal law. The abolition of the death penalty during the twentieth century resulted in almost all States and Territories adopting a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for murder. Although, since 1982 certain states such as New South Wales have turned to a more relaxed approach, mandatory life imprisonment remains the penalty for murder in Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory. (Austilli, …show more content…
The prevailing thought on why Mandatory sentences are in public favour is because they appeal on the basis that they provide consistency in sentencing, by removing the discretion of the judiciary to decide on the most appropriate sentence. However multiple cases across Australia, such as Crown V Manse 2004 - in which a homeless man was sentenced to 12 months prison after stealing a towel off a clothes line under Victoria’s three strike law – provide unequivocal evidence that a one size fits all approach serves to negatively impact the offender, on the basis of the punishment not fitting the