« Lots of great updates from CCJ's National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice | Main | BJS seeking comment on data collection regarding state and federal prison responses to COVID »

December 9, 2020

Sentencing Council for England and Wales issues new sentencing guidelines for firearm offenses that include drawing drawing sentencers' attention to historic disparities

As reported in this official news release, titled "Sentencing guidelines for firearms offences published," the Sentencing Council for England and Wales has released some new sentencing guides that includes an especially interesting element intended to respond to historic ethnic sentencing bias.  Here are the basics from the release (with some emphasis added):

Today, the Council is launching eight new sentencing guidelines to be used by the Crown Court and magistrates’ courts in England and Wales when sentencing firearms offences. The new guidelines will come into effect on 1 January 2021.

The aim of the guidelines, which will apply to adult offenders, is to help the courts deliver appropriate sentence levels for the unlawful possession of firearms and take a consistent approach to sentencing these offences.

Firearms offences are serious.  Some offences carry life imprisonment, some carry sentences of up to 10 years, and some require minimum sentences of five years, but there are currently no sentencing guidelines in the Crown Court and only one for use in magistrates’ courts.

Analysis conducted by the Council in preparation for the guidelines suggests there are disparities in sentence outcomes for some firearms offences based on ethnicity (see the response to consultation, pages 29-32).  The Council has taken measures in the guidelines to address this, including drawing sentencers’ attention to evidence of sentencing disparities in specific offences as an integral part the sentencing process.  The Council is committed to continuing to investigate apparent disparity in sentencing outcomes across all offences and will take further action as and when there is evidence of effective measures that can be applied to guidelines. 

This new article from The Guardian, headlined "Judges told they should consider previous racial bias before sentencing: Guidelines remind the bench black offenders tend to receive longer sentences for firearms offences," provides some additional context.  Here is an excerpt:

Judges and magistrates are to be given explicit reminders for the first time in sentencing guidelines of the disparity in punishments being imposed by the courts on white, Asian and black offenders. The advice is included in formal directions circulated by the sentencing council to those on the bench about how they should assess penalties for firearm offences.

The offences, which cover possession, discharge and manufacture of weapons, can result in a maximum prison term of up to 10 years. The eight new guidelines come into effect on 1 January.

Judges and magistrates are asked to consider the culpability of offenders according to whether, for example, the gun was loaded, shots have been fired, if it was for criminal purpose and the harm caused to any victim. But it is the inclusion of explicit reminders to judges and magistrates that the courts have in the past not achieved racial parity in the distribution of punishments that is highly unusual and novel.

In the guideline for the offence of possessing a firearm without a certificate, for example, judges and magistrates are reminded: “Sentencers should be aware that there is evidence of a disparity in sentence outcomes for this offence which indicates that a higher proportion of Black and Asian offenders receive an immediate custodial sentence than White offenders and that for Black offenders custodial sentence lengths have on average been longer than for White offenders.”

The note continues: “There may be many reasons for these differences, but in order to apply the guidelines fairly sentencers may find useful information and guidance … [in specific sections of] the Equal Treatment Bench Book.”

In another note, on possession of a prohibited weapon, the reminder states: “Sentencers should be aware that there is evidence of a disparity in sentence outcomes for this offence which indicates that where the minimum term applies, a higher proportion of White offenders receive a sentence below the mandatory minimum term, and as a result less severe sentences compared to Black, Asian and Other ethnicity offenders.”...

In 2017, a review by David Lammy QC, commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, highlighted bias against black and minority-ethnic suspects in the criminal justice system of England and Wales.  Among possible reasons for disparities, the sentencing council said, may be the “significance given to previous convictions in sentencing firearms cases.  There is an overrepresentation of black, Asian and other ethnic groups at many stages throughout the criminal justice system compared to the White ethnic group which means that, for example, a black offender may have a more significant record than a White offender of the same age.”

December 9, 2020 at 02:54 PM | Permalink

Comments

Post a comment

In the body of your email, please indicate if you are a professor, student, prosecutor, defense attorney, etc. so I can gain a sense of who is reading my blog. Thank you, DAB