06. Jun. 2010. – 13:57:25
"Pleading guilty to the
police should be rewarded with a lighter sentence", said Lord Leveson Court
of Appeal Judge and chairman of the new Sentencing Council.
John Thornhill, Chairman of the
Magistrates` Association, is quoted saying, “If a defendant holds up his
hand at the earliest opportunity then I have no problem with credit being
given. Whether a guilty plea could be taken at the police station was another
matter, but if the court is presented with a defendant who has already admitted
guilt, then why not have a more structured scale of discounts to reflect that?”
Lord Justice Leveson wants to
review the discounts for guilty pleas to award bigger credit to defendants who
admit their crimes even before the first hearing – the idea has potential for
saving money in police and court time and helps victims and witnesses. However
lawyers share John Thornhill’s caution by warning that unless carefully managed
it could put suspects under pressure to plead guilty at crimes that they had
not committee and would lead to miscarriages of justice.
Defendants who plead guilty
"at the earliest opportunity" are usually allowed one third reduction
in their sentence be it financial, unpaid work or custody. If an additional
reduction is given for a guilty plea at the police station it could lead to
dissimilar sentences for guilty pleas to similar offences by similar defendants
where one offender wishes to hedge his options under legal advice. All this is
based on the old story of persuading the donkey to get a move on by waving a
carrot under its nose. But discussing carrots as incentives for donkeys is akin
to rocket engineers discussing propulsion as action; the rocket cannot exist
without also including reaction. So with regard to incentivising a donkey`s
forward locomotion we need to discuss the corollary and that is a stick to the
donkey`s rump if it refuses to move. I would opine that many? most? defendants
cannot comprehend reductions in future sentences as they could understand
"more". I would suggest we cease reducing sentences for early pleas,
good behaviour etc. etc. and make it very clear that sentences will increase if
found guilty after a trial vis a vis a guilty plea made early. The sentences
themselves could theoretically be tailored to fit as now but the psychological addition
of time or money has more significance than the corresponding reduction.
There are traditional “hangers
and floggers” and there are so called prison reformers who find difficulty in
accepting incarceration for all but the most heinous crimes and offenders. The
central majority is following the penal pendulum as it makes its arc swinging
from left to right to left to right……………..jumping on and off as opinions
change. Who is to say eg that the use of Class A,B and C drugs will not be
decriminalised within the next twenty years or that jury trials will be abolished
for all indictable only crimes. Sentencing is as much a fashion product as
womens` hemlines.
No comments:
Post a Comment