Early morning, having a smoke and got to thinking of the “Justice System”.
So, I got to thinking… a defendant may choose a Judge to decide his case, or jury or may “plead”. All fine and dandy.
However I started thinking about sentencing. Have you ever heard or thought about “sentencing panels”? From what I understand sentencing is at a judge’s discretion based on guidelines. Again, I was thinking this may work (well - we use it…so it works on some level ) given normally a judge “knows” the intricacies of the legal system and perhaps “evidence” that may not be made available to the jury.
My point -to get to the point of my thought - was;
When a person is legally judged “guilty” would it better serve society if there was an additional step, a panel that could evaluate the emotional, mental, criminal act, etc (perhaps made up of professionals in various fields) and based on trial evidence and other evaluations - render a sentence that may be more appropriate. (Eg. Level of incarceration, facility type, time, isolation from society vs rehabilitation, etc)
I don’t know, just got to thinking…
https://www.sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/education/about-virtual-judge
I found this… I guess I’m wondering how “impartial” are some judges (one person) or risk of bribery when compared to a small grouping.