Sentencing reform for drug trafficking in England and Wales (original) (raw)
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Shorter sentences for drug mules: The early impact of the sentencing guidelines in England and Wales
Aims: In February 2012, new sentencing guidelines for drug offences became effective in all courts in England and Wales. An explicit aim was to reduce the length of sentences for drug ‘‘mules’’ and so make them more proportionate. Methods: This article examines their early impact drawing on data from the Court Proceedings Database and the Crown Court Sentencing Survey for importing/exporting a Class A drug. Findings: Overall, the guidelines have achieved their intended aim. The length of the average custodial sentence for drug trafficking fell following the introduction of the guidelines, largely due to taking defendants’ roles into account. Notably, three-quarters of those in ‘‘lesser’’ roles received sentences less than four years, representing an important change. Nonetheless, around 10% of mules received very long sentences due to the continued use of drug weight in sentencing. Conclusion: The new guidelines represent an internationally important innovation in drug policy reform.
Mafias, Markets, Mules: Gender Stereotypes in Discourses About Drug Trafficking 1
Popular and political discourses about drug trafficking are premised on a gender binary based on sexist stereotypes. Simply put, popular and political discourses about drug trafficking tend to describe men as the brains and women as mere bodies. Academic research on drug mules and drug trafficking tends to rely on, rather than problematise, this gender binary, limiting contemporary enquiry and knowledge about drug trafficking. Furthermore, this gendered binary informs anti-drug trafficking policy international in harmful ways.
This paper explores the recent PRT paper on the sentencing of mothers- highlighting and summarizing the recommendations and how they may be achieved. The paper highlights the need to take heed of these recommendations - recommendations which echo many that have been identified as 'the way forward' before . The report and the article concludes with the view that positive change cannot be delayed any longer in order to avert ongoing use of unnecessary custodial sentences for women and the subsequent negative impact this has on society , the women themselves ,families, in particular ,often already vulnerable children.
2014
This is an exploratory study of the impact of motherhood on mitigation in sentencing decisions in England and Wales. Previous studies have explored the influence of personal mitigation on sentencing decisions but little is known about the way in which judges interpret motherhood in this context. A growing number of children are separated from their mothers by imprisonment, and the state has a duty to protect them from discrimination or punishment suffered as a consequence of the actions of their parents. This study is a preliminary study exploring the visibility of these children in the sentencing process, and examining whether the caring responsibilities of a defendant mother are treated as personal mitigation to reduce sentence length. The study adopts a qualitative and mixed methods approach, combining semi-structured interviews with sentencing transcripts analysis to provide a multi-faceted view of this complex area. The findings highlight that discretion in the application of mitigation leads to inter and intra judge inconsistency. Personal factors including knowledge and experience influence a judge’s use of pre-sentence reports. The defendants’ sentence was more likely to be mitigated by motherhood if the judge had considered a pre-sentence report, regardless of whether the judge agreed with the recommendations of the report.
The Decision to Imprison: Sentencing and the Prison Population
2003
The work of the Prison Reform Trust is aimed at creating a just, humane and effective penal system. We do this by inquiring into the workings of the system; informing prisoners, staff and the wider public; and by influencing Parliament, Government and officials towards reform.