When asked about sentencing discretion and mandatory sentences, jurors participating in the Victorian Jury Sentencing Study expressed strong support for sentencing discretion and weak support for mandatory sentences despite a belief by jurors that, in general, sentences are too lenient. This strengthens the argument that polls that pose a general question about mandatory sentences or sentencing severity divorced from the context of a specific case are an inadequate and misleading measure of public opinion.
Funding
Australian Research Council
History
Publication title
Alternative Law Journal
Volume
43
Issue
4
Pagination
289-294
ISSN
1037-969X
Department/School
Faculty of Law
Publisher
Sage Publications Ltd.
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Rights statement
Copyright 2018 The Author(s)
Repository Status
Restricted
Socio-economic Objectives
Legal processes; Justice and the law not elsewhere classified