This paper initially set out to analyse sentencing decisions for drug offences in order to distil a set of principles or jurisprudential values in a core area of criminality. Instead, it found that the cases favour a negation of principle; what is called an anti–jurisprudential jurisprudence. This jurisprudential void — it is argued — owes much to the pervasiveness of liberal ideology. Moreover, it is suggested that the flexibility of liberal ideology helps to explain the lack of a consistent moral framework within which sentencing decisions can be placed. The final part of the article thus takes seriously the idea that the search for an overarching theory of punishment is futile. Rather, it is argued there is a need to focus on discrete forms of criminal conduct as a foundation for generating discrete moral theories of punishment. Put another way, the article suggests that we need to think about jurisprudences of sentencing.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlldridgeP (1990) ‘What's wrong with the traditional criminal law course?’, Legal Studies, vol 10, pp 38–62.
2.
AshworthA (1983) Sentencing and Penal Policy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London.
3.
AshworthA (1987) ‘Criminal justice, rights and sentencing: a review of sentencing policy and problems’ inPotasI(ed), Sentencing in Australia, Proceedings of a seminar ‘Sentencing: problems and prospects’ held at the Australian Institute of Criminology, 18–21 March 1986.
4.
AshworthAVon HirschA (1992) Principled Sentencing, North Eastern University Press, Boston.
5.
Australian Law Reform Commission (1980) Sentencing of Federal Offenders Interim Report No 15, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
6.
Australian Law Reform Commission (1987) Sentencing: Procedure Discussion Paper No 29, Australian Law Reform Commission, Sydney.
7.
BraithwaiteJFisseB (1993) Corporations, Crime and Accountability, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne.
8.
BrownD (1993) From Purpose to Pluralism, Penology to Politics, Critique to Policy, Proceedings of inaugural one day conference, National Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, La Trobe University, pp 13–27.
9.
BrownD (1994) The Honest Politicians Guide to Sentencing: A Primer, Paper presented to the Fifth International Criminal Law Congress, Sydney, 28 September 1994.
10.
BrownDFarrierDNealDWeisbrotD (1996) Criminal Laws: Materials and Commentary on Criminal Law and Process in New South Wales, 2nd edn, Federation Press, Sydney.
11.
BuschR (1994) ‘Don't throw bouquets at me … (judges) will say we're in love’ inStubbsJ, Women, Male Violence and the Law, Institute of Criminology Monograph Series No 6, Sydney.
12.
CainMRobyV (1992) ‘The impact of truth in sentencing part 1 — the higher courts’, Sentencing Trends No 2, Judicial Commission.
13.
ChanJ (1992) ‘The limits of sentencing reform’ inZdenkoswkiGRonaldsCRichardsonM(eds), The Criminal Injustice System, Pluto Press, Sydney.
14.
CotterrellR (1988) ‘The rule of law in corporate society: Neumann Kirchheimer and the lessons of Weimar’, Modern Law Review, vol 51, 126–140.
15.
DaviesM (1994) Asking the Law Question, Law Book Company, Sydney.
16.
DowGWilliamsP (1980) ‘Work and ideology’ inBorehamDowG(eds), Work and Inequality: Volume 2, Macmillan, Sydney.
17.
FitzgeraldM (1977) Prisoners in Revolt, Penguin, Harmondsworth.
18.
FoucaultM (1982) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, Penguin, Hamondsworth.
19.
FoxR (1987) ‘Controlling sentencers’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, vol 20, pp 218–46.
20.
FoxR (1988) ‘The killings of Bobby Veen: the High Court on proportion in sentencing’, Criminal Law Journal, vol 124, pp 339–66.
21.
FoxRFreibergA (1985) Sentencing: State and Federal Law in Victoria, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
22.
FrankelM (1992) ‘Lawlessness in sentencing’ inAshworthAVon HirschA(eds), Principled Sentencing, North Eastern University Press, Boston.
23.
GarlandD (1983) ‘Philosophical argument and ideological effect: an essay review’, Contemporary Crises, vol 7(1), pp 79–85.
24.
GaylinW (1974) Partial Justice: A Study of Bias in Sentencing, Alfred A Knopf, New York.
25.
GriffithJ A G (1977) The Politics of the Judiciary, Fontana, London.
26.
HudsonB (1987) Justice Through Punishment: A Critique of the ‘Justice’ Model of Corrections, Macmillan Education, Basingstoke.
27.
KerruishV (1991) Jurisprudence as Ideology, Routledge, London.
28.
LaceyNWellsCMeureD (1990) Reconstructing Criminal Law: Critical Perspectives on Crime and the Criminal Process, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London.
29.
McBarnetD (1981) Conviction: Law, the State and the Construction of Justice, MacMillan, London.
30.
McKinnellISpearsDTakachR (1993) ‘Special Circumstances’ under the Sentencing Act 1989 (NSW), Monograph Series No 7, Judicial Commission of New South Wales.
31.
PannickD (1987) Judges, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
32.
RobyVCainM (1992) ‘The impact of truth in sentencing part 1 — the Local Courts’, Sentencing Trends No 3, Judicial Commission.
33.
RowseT (1978) Australian Liberalism and National Character, Kibble Books, Melbourne.
34.
Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs (1982) The Burden of Proof in Criminal Proceedings, Australian Senate, Parliamentary Paper 319/1982.
35.
SumnerC J (1987) ‘Victim participation in the criminal justice system’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, vol 20, pp 195–217.
36.
ThomsonR (1987) The Judges, Allen and Unwin, Australia.
37.
UngerR (1977) Law in Modern Society, Free Press, New York.
38.
Victorian Sentencing Committee (1988) Sentencing: Report of the Victorian Sentencing Committee: Volume 1, Victorian Attorney-General's Department, Melbourne.
39.
WellsC (1993) Corporations and Criminal Responsibility, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
40.
WilliamsR (1977) Marxism and Literature, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
41.
ZdenkoswkiG (1994) ‘Contemporary sentencing issues’ inChappellDWilsonP(eds), The Australian Criminal Justice System: The Mid 1990s, Butterworths, Sydney.
42.
ZimringF E (1983) ‘Sentencing reform in the states: lessons from the 1970s’ inTonryMZimringF E(eds), Reform and Punishment: Essays on Criminal Sentencing, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
