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June 15, 2006
Punishment or rehabilitation?
The current brouhaha over the apparently "light" sentence for a paedophile who abducted and then sexually abused a girl of three highlights the mess that our justice system has become. The man is actually sentenced to "life" imprisonment, meaning at least twenty-five years in terms of the maximum "tariff" he could serve without consideration for parole. But, because this government cannot resist tinkering with everything, they have several times rewritten the "guidelines" for Judges passing sentence, and these now require the judge to make allowance for a person who pleads guilty and to set a lower "tariff". So the Judge in this case set the maximum tariff the guidelines recommend - five years.
Not unnaturally there are a lot of people who think this is too short a time. After all, his previous tariff had expired the day before he went out and deliberately abducted this victim - something he had spent the period of his "probation" planning! In the ever present spirit that drives our Illustrious Leader and his cronies in dishonour, there has been an immediate outcry by the Home Secretary and several other motormouths from the Labour benches, demanding a review of the sentence or the sacking of the judge - but they wrote the guidelines he has applied. That, of course, is not mentioned. That would never do, to have the Minister himself responsible for the complete failure of the prison system, for the debacle in Immigration and the debacle in just about everything else that is failing in theis country, to admit that it is his own guildelines - one's he imposed just a few short months ago - that are the problem!
At the very heart of this debate lies the serious question of what do we actually expect of the Justice system. Justice? Or something else?
Talk to the liberal left chattering classes of Islington and you would think that the justice system is all about "redemming the disadvantaged criminal classes" and "reforming or rehabilitating" them. Talk to the victims and they think it is about redressing the wrong done to them or their loved ones. The trouble is that constant political interference and meddling by civil liberties and human rights activists has resulted in a justice system that certainly does not punish - and it doesn't rehabilitate either! In short, the victims are left cheated of justice and the criminals regard a spell in jail as a badge of honour, a sort of ritual earning of one's spurs. To often serial criminals are allowed to plead "extenuating circumstances" and the judge is required by the Home Office "Guidelines" to make allowances. For most career criminals these guidelines are almost a bible - they know exactly how to plead to maximum benefit and reap the reward of a shorter sentence.
This latest case will remain a political football, nothing will change as a result of all the uprorar - it is just another bit of smoke and mirrors "Look, look, we're doing something about this!" Gesture politics is what it is all about, nothing more. The root cause of this problem is the simple fact that for far too long the likes of the Howard League have been allowed to slew the debate in favour of the criminals, in a misplaced sympathy of "these victims of poverty".It is time to look again at the entire argument and to address the very real concerns of ordinary people to the crime and violence marring our society. The criminal element is a very small minoriity in any given community, so let's stop playing with them - hit them with some meaningful punishment, it does tend to deter the small timer attracted by the thrill.
Time to tell the politicians to stop meddling and to let justice be seen to be done.
Posted by The Gray Monk at June 15, 2006 08:38 PM
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Comments
Things like this make me see red. My sister was raped when she was younger. This was the s.e.c.o.n.d time he had been caught. He had been let out of jail on good behavior. 5 years after my sister helped get him jailed, they had a 'hearing' to see if he should be let out on good behavior AGAIN. I found out that if she had not attended the hearing, the chances would have been very good they would have let this man out. The USA is as screwed up as any place can be. Second offense and they were going to let this man out. And who knows how many people he raped but they didn't turn him in?
Posted by: vw bug at June 15, 2006 04:02 PM
My heart goes out to anyone who has been affected by the actions of men like that - but it also goes to the heart of what I was writing about when I wrote on "Grace" the other day. It is finding the right balance between retribution, forgiveness and justice that is so difficult - and we seem always to fall from one end of the spectrum to the other!
Posted by: The Gray Monk at June 15, 2006 05:24 PM
You are correct. And there are many times I wish I could find that balance. It just hasn't happened yet. Some days are better than others. Some things set me off easier than others. Being human is very difficult. But reading your articles and being reminded of what it means to strive towards a better goal... helps.
Posted by: VW Bug at June 16, 2006 05:54 PM
I am glad I have been able to help, there are many things I struggle with - not least being the evil that seems to go unpunished because someone unaffected by it sees it as unimportant or thinks they can "reform" or "help" the perpetrator to be "better". We can but strive to keep things in perspective I guess.
Posted by: The Gray Monk at June 17, 2006 06:49 PM