A fight is brewing in England over new sentencing guidelines that require judges to consider a criminal’s ethnicity and faith before deciding whether to sentence them to jail. The guidelines, critics say, could lead to harsh punishments for Christians and white men, while women and ethnic minorities receive more leniency.
The fight began when the independent Sentencing Council for England and Wales released new guidelines this week ostensibly designed to counteract potential biases during the sentencing period. Under the new guidelines, set to take effect on April 1, it “will normally be considered necessary” for judges to obtain pre-sentencing reports for offenders to help determine their sentencing when the individual is from an ethnic, cultural, or faith minority.
Nothing undermines a society faster than the imposition of two tiered justice.
