Life Sentence: Should Life Mean Life - Article Example

Life Sentence Should Life Mean Life? Order no. - 171169 No. of pages – 6 – 6530 “Life is precious” as they say, but not when it comes from thelaw. Everyone are equal in the eyes of the law, no matter who they are. Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment given to a person who has committed a very serious crime. The duration of the sentence is usually for the remaining life of the individual. The duration of this period could vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction depending on the laws of that particular country. Some countries have their limit as 50 years. After which a prisoner may be incarcerated or sent on parole. In countries where there is no capital punishment, life imprisonment without the possibility of parole constitutes the most criminal form of punishment. Unlike other countries such as America, China, Asia and the Arab countries, the UK has its own set of laws. In the other countries, a life sentence would mean a life sentence, but in the UK, a life sentence would mean that the offenders are released after about 10 or 12 years. In places like the UK, a life sentence is a prison term used for an indefinite period of time. But in cases where the crime is very grave, recommendations could be made that “life sentence should mean life”. Formerly, the Home Secretary had the power to set the “tariff’ or the minimum length of sentence on a prisoner, but now that power has been removed since November 2002. Presently, the judges have been obliged to pass a minimum sentence and the Court of Appeal only had the right to make any amendments to the case. Now-a-days, politicians can no longer decide how long a prisoner serves a life sentence, but the Attorney General still holds the power to petition a Court of Appeal to increase any prison terms that they feel are too lenient. The Criminal Justice Act of 2003, laid down its guidelines wherein showing how long a murderer should spend behind bars before being considered for parole. This kind of legislation highlighted the recommendations that multiple murderers (people who have committed more than one murder) whose crimes involved abduction, sexual abuse, or terrorism should at no cost be released from prison (Whole life tariff). While other multiple murderers, (killing of two or more) are recommended, to spend at least a minimum of 30 years behind bars. This minimum 30 year recommendation also applies to the most dangerous and worst single murders, involving sexual abuse, racial motives, the use of fire arms and also the murders involving police officers. Most other murders are subjected to a 15 year sentence before considering parole. But inevitably, the guidelines have not been adhered to very appropriately since they were first put into practice. An example of this would be, when the judge sentenced police killer David Bieber and recommended that he should never leave prison, the Government guidelines recommended only a 30 year minimum sentence for such crimes. His case is gone on an appeal and he is currently waiting for his sentence to be reduced. In an arson attack on a house in Staffordshire, Mark Goldstraw had killed four people. The presiding trial judge recommended a period of 35 years minimum sentence when the sentence should have been a Whole Life Tariff since it involved pre-planning. Therefore the average sentence is 15 years before the first parole and in the very grave and bizarre cases receive a heavier sentence (some up to 40 to 50 years.) Many of the criminals who receive whole life tariffs die in prison. Sometimes a whole life tariff could be reduced midway and for different reasons. For example, a prisoner called Reggie Kray, was serving a whole life tariff, but was released on compassionate grounds in August 2000 because he was suffering from Terminal Cancer. He was aged 67 and had already served 30 years in prison before being released. He died five weeks later after parole. In recent years, the number of people serving Whole Life Tariffs has significantly increased as the crime rate has shot up. At times the Parole Board Authorities release prisoners that are supposed to be jailed for life on a life license. In that case, the prisoner has to satisfy the Parole Board that he understands the gravity of his crime and is remorseful about the crime he had committed. He should also satisfy the Board that he poses no threat what-so-ever to his family and the society around him. In case they breach the parole conditions set down for him, he is liable to be subjected to life long recall to prison. In the British Criminal Justice System, it emphasizes the conditions under which a prisoner who is sentenced to life in prison may be released. A prisoner who has served his minimum tariff and who has a good conduct during his sentence is eligible for parole. In such a scenario, the board agrees for the prisoner to be let out on parole, but with strict instructions that in case he breaks these conditions and poses a danger to the public, he would be automatically and immediately incarcerated by the terms of the already existing license. With regard to Wales and England, the law incorporating release of prisoners is put down in the Crimes (sentence) Act of 1997 (sections 28-30) The Act was amended and updated by the Criminal Justice Act of 2003 (chapters 6 and 7) For Scotland (Scotland Act of 1993) was amended in relation to life prisoners by the Convention Rights (Scotland) Act 2001. This Act incorporated many changes to ensure that its procedures are in compliance with the “European Convention on Human Rights”. Sentencing for people in the Military: Proposals of British soldiers getting life sentences for desertion were criticized as “inhuman and barbaric”. “It is the life imprisonment that appears to be inhuman and barbaric” (John McDonnell, Labour) Defense minister said life could apply only where desertion was “to avoid relevant service” (Tom Watson, Defense) One of the senior partners of the UK’s largest criminal law firm stated that British law needed revamping. The present system encourages many loop holes to be formed and misused. Sentencing Pedophiles: Pedophiles pose a great threat to people in a society and more so when they are children. They are dangerous predators always on the look out for a vulnerable prey. One such case of a pedophile is that of Goad who boasted of beating his own “record” of sexually assaulting 142 boys in one year. He is known to have abused some of his victims three to four times a week. He was meted out a life sentence by the Plymouth Crown Court. According to a BBC correspondent Goad was a “voracious, calculating, predatory and violent” pedophile. It has been believed that there has been no single defendant with more victims than this man”(Martin Meeke QC, 2004) Judge William Taylor described Goad as a “dangerous pedophile” and slapped a life sentence on him because he posed a threat to many innocent people who were mostly children. The judge quoted, “It may well mean in your case life will mean just that”.(Judge William Taylor, 2004) Sentencing of people who are cruel to animals and kill them for fun: Some people agree to the phrase “Life for a Life”, but others do not agree to this. They are of the opinion that a human being cannot be equated to an animal. But according to the UK law, if a person tortures and kills an animal it is punishable. The sentence is passed based on the depth of the crime committed. The court’s power to sentence someone for killing or torturing an animal is very restricted, so people who do this get a couple of weeks in prison and are then left off. Present state of the Criminal Justice System: In the United Kingdom, the Magistrates’ Courts play a vital role in the Criminal Justice System. The Magistrate has the power to determine the guilt of a defendant based solely on his discretion. They also have powers to make orders or place additional requirements on the offender. But when compared to the “Crown Court”, their powers are limited. Magistrates carry out proceedings for various cases and determine whether there is enough evidence for it to be passed on to the higher court for trial and sentencing. (Thomas Gallagher- Criminal Law) However the draw back of appointing such magistrates is because those who are appointed are professional people who share little or nothing with the people they pass judgment against. Though in truth the current system is far from perfect, yet it proves to be a necessary and significant filter for the more serious crimes which are tried by a jury in the Crown Court. Thus the sociological implications for such a system cannot be under estimated and therefore the time has come to create a diverse magistrate pool drawing members from the society, irrespective of their previous background. The McInnes Report (John, et. al; 2004) gives us a review of the summary justice system in Scotland. The work of these summary courts cannot be denied as they deal with around 130,000 cases a year. This report sought to deal with the relationship between the different courts in Scotland and frame a set of principles for a sound basis of the Criminal Justice System and encourage new strategies for prosecution, accountability and the role of police personnel when prosecution is not necessary. All this was done in order to speed up the court proceedings. Thus the task of the McInnes Report was to strike a balance between the justice systems formalities and its speedy disposal. People working in areas that include the Criminal Justice System are of the opinion that the Executive does not address any of the issues raised by the McInnes Report. According to them it has been “swept under the carpet”. Therefore since the summary courts account for a huge percentage of cases, it is imperative that the system proceeds on the lines of the McInnes Report. References: Criminal Justice System &Magistrates Court – UK Legal Info www.huntlycomputers.co.uk/criminal-justice-system.html Criminal Justice and Penal Process- Edinburgh www.law.ed.ac.uk/courses/showmessage.aspx?ref=65&id=32702 BBC News UK, Devon - Pedophiles www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/3714640.stm Life sentence .co.UK www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?...&in_page_id=34&in_a_source= Life Imprisonment. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_sentence Should people who murder innocent dogs, cats etc. get life www.timeuk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061010044641AAsLwNY Read More