Judges soft on Aboriginal
criminalsJudges sentence Aboriginals to
43% shorter jail terms than the rest of the population
If you are an Aboriginal felon
then you can expect a jail term 42.8% shorter than a non- Aboriginal convicted
for the same offence. The median aggregate sentence length for all
offences for Aboriginals is 2 years, versus 3 years and 6 months for
non-Aboriginals.
These startling figures, as
shown in the table below, validate the public perception that judges are
soft on Aboriginal criminals.
Scales of Injustice
| Offence |
Jail
term
Non-Aboriginal |
Jail
term
Aboriginal |
| Homicide |
14 years |
10 years |
| Assault |
2 years 6
months |
1 year 6
months |
| Sex
offences |
6 years |
7 years |
| Other
against person |
3 years 3
months |
3 years 3
months |
| Robbery |
6 years |
5 years 8
months |
| Break and
enter |
2 years |
1 year 11
months |
| Fraud |
1 year 8
months |
2 years 6
months |
| Theft |
1 year |
1 year |
| Property
damage |
3 years |
9 months |
| Justice
procedures |
9 months |
9 months |
| Good order
offences |
4 months |
14 months |
| Drug
offences |
4 years 6
months |
2 years 3
months |
| Driving
offences |
6 months |
7 months |
| Other
traffic offences |
6 months |
8 months |
| Other
offences |
1 year 4
months |
9 months |
| All
Offences |
3 years
6 months |
2 years |
Source: Australian
Institute of Criminology, November 1999. Data derived from Prisoners
in Australia (ABS 1998)
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