Adrian Bailey's sentencing

[charmanderp]

My personal opinion is that capital punishment is the ultimate violation of human rights. I don't think 'we' (the morally good, the law, etc) should ever have the right to take the life of another person, no matter what they did, so long as they don't pose a threat to anyone while in prison.

This being said, I do think Adrian Bailey should be incarcerated for life, or at least until he is very old and can no longer harm anyone else, and even then he and all other perpetrators of murder/rape would have to show signs of serious remorse.

I'd imagine the reason it wasn't a life sentence Stick is what I've sort of alluded to above - after 35 years in prison there's very very little chance of him being able to repeat his crime given the physical and mental state he'll be in.

[chasej]

Is there any particular reason as to why a life sentence was not given?

Guilty plea.
Keeping sentence consistent with other similar cases.
And he was given a life sentence he just has the option to apply for parole after 35 years.
Also there are still other rape charges against him pending so hopefully these are given to him in the form of consecutive prison terms so he's in prison for longer.

[Professor Polonsky]

Jill Meagher lost her life. Adrian Bailey will only lose 35 years of his life. Whilst I do not condone the death penalty, I hope that he will not survive too far beyond his release (if he does indeed make it that far). Is there any particular reason as to why a life sentence was not given?

A life sentence was given.

Bailey was given a life-sentence with a non-parole period of 35 years. This means that he is eligible to apply for a parole after serving a minimum sentence of 35 years. That does not mean his request for parole will be granted at any point - it is up to the Adult Parole Board. As he was given a life sentence, unless he is granted parole at some point he will continue serving his sentence until his death.

There are cases in which a life sentence is given without a specified non-parole period, meaning that they would not be eligible for parole at any point. Those are exceedingly rare, though. In the 2007-8 to 2011-12 period, there were only five such cases out of 127 individuals imprisoned for murder.

Sentencing statistics

[Jezza]

Bayley's sentence was just about right. It would have been nice that he received life with no parole, but he did end up pleading guilty and the judge acknowledged that's the reason he has a slight chance of being released after 35 years.

However, it's not likely he'll be released in 35 years anyway. The man will probably be safer inside than on the outside ironically, and for those advocating for the death penalty, I can really understand where you are coming from, and same goes for those who are against it. I can see both arguments to the issue and hence I'm sitting on the fence with this issue.

Trust me, Bayley will be suffering big time in jail. I bet he would rather receive the death penalty than live out his life in jail. If the newspapers are correct, then he's going to be in constant lock up and isolated from most prisoners as he's seen as a major target to other prisoners. The fact that he harmed himself late last year suggests to me that he'd rather not be alive in prison, and instead received the 'easy way' out.

[slothpomba]

It all goes back to the very root of sentencing and jail in the first place. If you work out the reasons behind this then it's much easier to figure out whether the sentence was appropriate. The law students in here can probably chime in but rehabilitation, punishment and simply stopping them from committing another crime are three that immediately come to mind. Historically, people were killed (e.g. hanging in ye olde England) for very minor crimes like theft. Jail is a (then) progressive alternative to that.

You can take away money, possessions, status and everything else but the one thing you cannot buy with anything else or get back is time. Time really is one of the most precious things we have since life is limited, they are taking away all of his remaining time (life sentence) as the others point out. He pretty much got the harshest penalty he could receive under our system (working on the assumption he isn't released in 35 years which isn't likely).

Capital Punishment is a residual stain of our less developed past. It's prone to mistakes, it often costs more if you have the rigorous appeal process needed and it's morally unacceptable. At the end of the day, you need to decide whether you want a society and legal system based on a culture of life or a culture of death. There's plenty more reasons here as well.

[Professor Polonsky]

​The only purposes for which sentences may be imposed are—

• (a) ​​to punish the offender to an extent and in a manner which is just in all of the circumstances; or
• (b) ​to deter the offender or other persons from committing offences of the same or a similar character; or
• (c) ​to establish conditions within which it is considered by the court that the rehabilitation of the offender may be facilitated; or
• ​(d)​ to manifest the denunciation by the court of the type of conduct in which the offender engaged; or
• (e) ​to protect the community from the offender; or
• ​(f) ​a combination of two or more of those purposes.

​

[slothpomba]

​The only purposes for which sentences may be imposed are—

• (a) ​​to punish the offender to an extent and in a manner which is just in all of the circumstances; or
• (b) ​to deter the offender or other persons from committing offences of the same or a similar character; or
• (c) ​to establish conditions within which it is considered by the court that the rehabilitation of the offender may be facilitated; or
• ​(d)​ to manifest the denunciation by the court of the type of conduct in which the offender engaged; or
• (e) ​to protect the community from the offender; or
• ​(f) ​a combination of two or more of those purposes.

​

Obviously pasted from somewhere (unless you got a great memory), like to see that source if you could pass it along...

[Professor Polonsky]

Sentencing Act 1991