by Alex Bolkas

The issue of prison sentencing is one that resonates strongly amongst many Victorians. Because of this, the state government’s current sentencing review has been met with mixed feelings by legal professionals and the broader community.

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ALEX BOLKAS: The Baillieu government’s plan to toughen up sentencing laws in the areas of parole, suspended, juvenile and mandatory sentences has been applauded by victim advocacy groups and much derided by legal experts across the country. Former Chief Magistrate Nick Papas, and defence barrister Maitland Lincoln are worried the potential changes could create a one-size-fits-all judiciary. Others, like Victims of Crime representative Brian O’Donnell say the proposed amendments are long overdue, particularly in the area of parole reform.

BRIAN O’DONNELL: “They’re very good people and they play the system and they’re cunning, like our guy did, he played the system, he was a good boy when he needed to be and then he got out on parole.”

ALEX BOLKAS:  Many criminologists however, hold the view that there is no real link between levels of imprisonment and crime rates, with lawyers like Nick Papas arguing that parole is necessary to free up jails.

NICK PAPAS: “The reality is that if it hadn’t been his daughter, this guy ultimately would have been released at some stage and it might have been somebody else’s daughter. We can’t keep people in jail forever. Ultimately people need to be released. If you look at the statistics, and this is always difficult a thing, in the United States imprisonment rates are four times what our imprisonment rates are and yet their crime rates are double or triple what ours are in urban areas.

ALEX BOLKAS: Another main area of contention amongst lawyers is the proposed minimum mandatory sentences for serious offences including 10-year base sentences for drug trafficking, 20-year base sentences for murder, and 2-year base sentences for juvenile offenders. Mr Papas believes changing the sentencing laws could see discretion taken away from the judiciary, resulting in sentences that don’t take into account the context of the crime.

NICK PAPAS: “There is a real risk that when you set baseline sentences well, first of all you reduce effectiveness of the judiciary because they end up becoming very inflexible and secondly you end up by the use of this one size fits all sentencing you may get sentences which may not reflect the crime.”

ALEX BOLKAS: A focus point for Victims of Crime is the concept of plea-bargaining. Mr O’Donnell believes the concept of people getting lesser sentences for admitting their guilt is unjust and needs to change.

BRIAN O’DONNELL: Our guy served 17 years out of 30 years in sentencing. The 30 years had been reduced anyway because of plead bargaining. On two occasions that he was out on parole he committed terrible crimes. He tried to commit a murder and he did commit a murder. It is far too easy and some people should not be given any privileges because they are beyond any kind of rehabilitation.”

ALEX BOLKAS: But barrister Maitland Lincoln says logistics also play a huge part in deciding what kind of sentence to give someone, and that currently the courts and jails are heaving with people and struggling to cope with the number of criminals.

MAITLAND LINCOLN:  The courts are so busy and if we can do a plead bargain I think it should be allowed.

ALEX BOLKAS: Law Institute CEO Caroline Counsel has been vocal about the tendency of prisons to be schools of crime and trap people into a cycle of re-offending, a sentiment Barrister Maitland Lincoln agrees with.

MAITLAND LINCOLN: “Jail does nobody any good, very few people benefit from jail time. You have to look at other things. A lot of people lack any sort of discipline or moral code in their lives. So in a sense they need re-habilitating, they need re-educating.”

ALEX BOLKAS:  But Mr O’Donnell says this a common view of “do-gooder” lawyers who are out of touch with the reality of life as a victim.

BRIAN O’DONNELL: “Sure if you get a young guy that has got mixed up with wrong crowd and got carried away, he might’ve done it once, he might have done it twice, doesn’t matter, you can get hold of them and rehabilitate them. Some of these psychopaths are not able to be rehabilitated and should be there for the rest of their days.”

Alex Bolkas is a final year journalism student at RMIT.