Monday, January 08, 2007
Between the Devil and the Sea
The Times reports on judicial outrage over planned so-called sentencing reform.
The government proposals include the usual meaningless changes: "...limit the use of community punishments in favour of fines...". Well a fine is only a punishment if it gets paid, and community punishment is just an oxymoron.
"... they also express fears that extending the range of offences that can be dealt with by fixed-penalty notices would create an impression among the public that such crimes were not being taken seriously..." Not like a tough community punishment then? Showing that crimes are taken seriously.
Half the problem is that community punishment is regarded as a "tough" option, I blogged on Lord Phillips serving a term. His perception of what is tough is what passes as normal work for most people.
Equally culpable are politicians who instead of changing laws to ensure that effective punishments are available and used, prefer to talk tough and do nothing. Especially as prison is so expensive, this again is really down to the politicians. Who says prisoners need television in their cells? Why should they receive compensation for being forced to "cold turkey" off their drugs? There's some perverse belief that the depravation of liberty alone is the punishment; in reality that should only be one aspect of the prison sentence, the criminal should have to put up with the rest of prison as part and parcel of the punishment. If they don't like it, who cares?
Criminal sentencing has become largely a joke. Many crimes have no effective punishment and often the government and judiciary tend to blame each other. I blame both of them, but it must be more down to the government.
What we need are cheap effective sentences, and without them, it isn't the judiciary and politicians who suffer. It's the ordinary people trying to go about their everyday business, crime isn't an illness, or something that can't be helped, it's a lifestyle choice and one that impacts badly on others. The judiciary and government should wake up to this basic truth and start giving criminals what they deserve.
The government proposals include the usual meaningless changes: "...limit the use of community punishments in favour of fines...". Well a fine is only a punishment if it gets paid, and community punishment is just an oxymoron.
"... they also express fears that extending the range of offences that can be dealt with by fixed-penalty notices would create an impression among the public that such crimes were not being taken seriously..." Not like a tough community punishment then? Showing that crimes are taken seriously.
Half the problem is that community punishment is regarded as a "tough" option, I blogged on Lord Phillips serving a term. His perception of what is tough is what passes as normal work for most people.
Equally culpable are politicians who instead of changing laws to ensure that effective punishments are available and used, prefer to talk tough and do nothing. Especially as prison is so expensive, this again is really down to the politicians. Who says prisoners need television in their cells? Why should they receive compensation for being forced to "cold turkey" off their drugs? There's some perverse belief that the depravation of liberty alone is the punishment; in reality that should only be one aspect of the prison sentence, the criminal should have to put up with the rest of prison as part and parcel of the punishment. If they don't like it, who cares?
Criminal sentencing has become largely a joke. Many crimes have no effective punishment and often the government and judiciary tend to blame each other. I blame both of them, but it must be more down to the government.
What we need are cheap effective sentences, and without them, it isn't the judiciary and politicians who suffer. It's the ordinary people trying to go about their everyday business, crime isn't an illness, or something that can't be helped, it's a lifestyle choice and one that impacts badly on others. The judiciary and government should wake up to this basic truth and start giving criminals what they deserve.
Labels: Crime
