Do judges take prior record into consideration? : an analysis of the sentencing of repeat offenders in British Columbia

Plecas, Darryl (author.). Cohen, Irwin M., (author.). Mahaffy, Adele, (author.). Burk, Kevin, (author.). University College of the Fraser Valley. Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research, (publisher.). Canadian Electronic Library (Firm), (distributor.).

Summary: A fundamental principle in nearly every common-law jurisdiction, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States, is that an offender's prior record should play a central role in sentencing. In fact, the importance of previous criminal history should only be surpassed by the seriousness of offence committed (Roberts, 1997; Ulmer, 1997; Vigorita, 2001). In Canada, the public has held the views that repeat offenders should be held more accountable for their offenses and should receive a harsher penalty (Roberts, 2008). This perspective is based on the notion that deliberate and persistent criminal activity indicates that the offender is a chronic and significant risk to society who consistently demonstrates a disregard for the rules and laws of society and its citizens.

Record details

Physical Description: remote
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1 electronic text (11 pages).
Publisher: Abbotsford [British Columbia] : Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research, University of the Fraser Valley, [2012]
Distributor: Ottawa, Ontario : Canadian Electronic Library, 2013.

Content descriptions

General Note:	"November 2012." Issued as part of the desLibris documents collection.
Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 10-11).
System Details Note:	Mode of access: World Wide Web.