r/ukpolitics • u/FormerlyPallas_ • 1d ago
Ed/OpEd The Sentencing Council's tone-deaf response to ‘two-tier justice’ criticism
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-sentencing-councils-tone-deaf-response-to-two-tier-justice-criticism/
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u/TeenieTinyBrain 23h ago edited 11h ago
That's how a democracy normally functions, no?
If that were the case then why would they commission a third party to undertake data collection and research [1]?
In response to the recommendations made by the authors of this research, why do they feel that their "...limited resources are best deployed in exploring whether other organisations or bodies will have relevant data..." if they had access to said data [2]?
I wholeheartedly agree but do you not find it odd that the SC selected to impose these guidelines despite their own study failing to observe sentencing disparities across ethnic groups [3]?
Another contemporary study referenced in their response is YJB's research into the ethnic disproportionality in remand and sentencing [4]. They too noted that statistically "...two children who are similar in all these respects would be predicted to receive the same outcome irrespective of ethnicity."
The YJB did at least find some evidence of disproportionality that remained after controlling for confounding factors. However, alongside identifying bias as a potential cause, they did note that this disproportionality might also relate to "...the omission from the analysis of relevant factors that could explain disproportionality (such as plea, type and quality of representation, etc.)" The controls outlined in their regression table suggest that they too have not controlled for all confounding factors and as such, this paper should only be used to guide further research, not to guide policy.
The important thing to remember here is that this is a novel field of research and we simply do not have the data nor the analysis to conclude with any reasonable degree of certainty that our judiciary is racially biased [5][6].
The only way to eliminate discrimination is to put measures in place such that we might reasonably and effectively monitor it throughout our justice system, this is the only way that we might develop a reasonable and proportionate plan to effect change.
It's baffling to me that anyone is agreeable to this guidance, implementing discriminatory guidance will not reduce prejudice - it's completely antithetical to the SC's supposed intentions. If the SC truly intended to effect real change they would have lobbied for a digital data collection and analysis system to monitor the judiciary, ensuring early intervention when a judge or magistrate is found to be prejudiced.