Please rate my answer for Legal Studies? (3 Viewers)

[enoilgam]

I got that of an textbook. What's the difference between state and federal again?

Federal laws are made by the federal government, state laws are made by the state government.

 

[Phoebe 123]

I mean difference between federal and state, the words.

 

[enoilgam]

Well, federal relates to the nation itself, whilst state relates to the individual states ie NSW, qld. Is that what you mean?

 

[Phoebe 123]

Yeah, hey, if you don't mind, what kind of assignments do you remember getting. I mean, everything that's not an essay. What kind of assignments were they. What did you have to do?

 

[Phoebe 123]

Like what kind of assignments did you get for Crime and Human Rights?

I know for the options it was just essays.

 

[enoilgam]

For crime we had a presentation on a legal issue (mine was rights of the accused). For human rights, it was a short answer test on a newspaper article about child soldiers. For the option topics they were in class essays, where they gave you the questions a couple of weeks befor the test.

 

[Phoebe 123]

Can you ask me anything and tell me how much it is out of? I have honestly run out of questions.

 

[enoilgam]

"Criminal penalties always reflect community standards and expectations." Evaluate this statement (10 Marks). In your response, you need to evaluate the degree to which this statement is accurate or inaccurate. This question requires you to support your answer with strong cases/legislation/media reports.

I reakon this is a question which could come up for the 15 marker on crime

 

[Phoebe 123]

The types of penalties available in the criminal justice system are Imprisonment, Home Detention, Fine, Bond, Community Service, and Periodic Detention. Penalties no longer available are the death penalty (capital punishment) and corporal punishment. The law, as we know it, attempts to keep pace with our ever-changing community and society values and beliefs. This is why our Australian Parliament needs to constantly apply law reform to amend laws and make them better suited to suit our community values and beliefs.

For example, most of us amongst society believe that children are relatively innocent human beings, and any child under the age of 10 is free from the presumption of mens rea (that is, the intent behind a crime.) In NSW the age of criminal responsibility is defined by the statute Children's Criminal Proceedings Act 1987. The hearings of crimes committed by children are dealt with in the Children's Court. This court only hears cases from juvenile offenders under the age of 18. Imprisonment is seen as the very last resort to punishment. Children are given far more leniency in the eyes of the law as they are viewed with the concept and belief of being inexperienced and unable to have the direct cold-blooded intention to commit a crime. Demonstration of this is clearly seen in the case of State of NSW vs. Summers (2007). The events of this case, as it turned out, Mike Summers; a 14 year old was witnessed by his next-door neighbor to be carrying and directly testing illicit drugs. This was reported to police, who questioned the parents, who denied any involvement or knowledge. Other than the neighbor’s claim, there were no other statements reported or any evidence found that supported what the witness claimed. As a result of this, and police’s discretion in respecting the notion that a young teenager cannot be accused of committing one of the two most essential elements of a crime (mens rea), police did not wish to follow this complaint up any further. Though the majority of the community believes that children are innocent from the prospect of a crime, there are a minority with the belief that they should not be let off the hook from the presumption of guilt and mens rea just because of their age, as more and more juvenile offenders are getting of quite easily. On June 11th, 1996 the BBC published a newspaper articles confronting this issue, called “Should Juveniles be Tried as Adults?” This article explored the reasons for and against this issue, as well as the measures in place to dealing with juvenile crime.

Another valid point to make is about the death penalty. In many countries, such as the United States and some European nations, capital punishment (death penalty) still exists. However, the notion of a “life for a life” has died down amongst Australia. Australians no longer believe in capital punishment, as a result it was abolished. It was last used in 1967, when in the case of Victoria vs. Ryan (1967), where Ronald Ryan was hanged and executed. Prior to this sentence, Queensland and New South Wales had already abolished the death penalty as a form of punishment. The last case which saw a punishment of the death penalty was the case NSW vs. Hodge (1984). Hodge was sentenced to life imprisonment, and granted parole in 1995. This was the very last case which resulted in life imprisonment/death penalty. It was removed as a punishment for murder in all states in Australia. The Federal Government amended the legislation of the Capital Punishment Act consenting to this. Much like the previous issue of juvenile crime, there are still minorities who have an extremely strong nerve and catalyst of serious offenses and believe that if one takes a life/causes an ominous act towards society or towards a person; they don’t deserve to keep their own. In other words, a “life for a life” famous quote. After the abolition of the death penalty in all states and territories in Australia, the BBC released a newspaper article called “Abolition of death penalty leaves controversy and discussion amongst Australians” giving evidence of differing perspectives and arguments at the time, as the death penalty had only just been abolished. Today, the majority don’t believe in death as retribution for the most serious crimes committed against the person.

Community service, and other penalties such as probation, bond, and a Suspended sentence, rehabilitation programs and reducing the charge of murder to manslaughter are all, in theory are the least serious penalties imposed by a Court. Instead, they all grant a form of leniency and give the offender a chance to re-cooperate. This reflects the criminal justice’s view of learning from sins, and hopefully not re-offending. These are in place because the legal system acknowledges that all before the law deserve a second chance to right the wrong, if the crimes committed have special circumstances such as provocation, self-defense, an act of protecting a loved one, or an careless accident, etc. These notions are represented in the NSW case of the State of NSW vs. Dr. Hayes. Rebecca Hayes (a well respected doctor in her field) had charges against her for second degree murder; however a defense of provocation was brought up by the defense, claiming that the deceased had attempted to viciously harm her and her family on more than one occasion, reducing the charge to manslaughter.

Lastly, imprisonment is the harshest penalty a court can impose on anyone who comes before the law. Imprisonment supports the views of the legal system and society of incapacitation; removing a person characterized as a “criminal” from society. The Crimes Act 1999 provides for maximum sentencing for certain penalties. A significant where a judge can use imprisonment to remove a violent offender from society are R vs. Kramer (2006), a child molester who victimized several children aged from 9 – 15. There were several reports and complaints made from the victim’s families to police; the same person. The BBC World News released a newspaper article called “Danger to children put away” defaming the violent offender, reflecting how highly the media and society believe imprisonment in being the most effective penalty for dealing with criminals.

In conclusion, the different penalties reflect different purposes of punishment and values/beliefs of the legal system, the community and media. This is shown through newspaper articles written, discretion of the courts/judges when imposing sentences, and reactive nature of people when faced with dealing with a crime; for example, they believe that when reporting a crime, as they know of what their information could do to the offender and what punishment they could face.

 

[enoilgam]

Whilst you have improved on your writing style, you havent really answered the question in your response. You need to look at how accurate or inaccurate the statement is by looking over the penalties available. Whilst you come close to doing it in your death penalty paragraph, you fail to do so in your other paragraphs. For example in the paragraph on children, you look more a whether or not the community believes that children should be held criminally liable for their actions - thats not what the question is asking. So I'd give this a 6/10.

Try having a look at my modern history essay guide here http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=264934. Although its made for modern, most of the points I make relate to all humanities essays in general. This might give you a better idea of what to do for extended responses.

 

[Phoebe 123]

What are some of the things I could have mentioned?

 

[4025808]

I will give you an example of what you could do in your introduction so that it will actually answer the question properly:

There are different types of penalties available in the criminal justice system such as imprisonment, fines and home detentions. However, the extent to which is reflects community standards and expectations is a major issue in Australia. For people to have confidence in the law, it needs to reflect community standards or otherwise the law would be considered invalid. It is evident that these types of penalties do not always reflect community standards or expectations. For example, the abolishing of the death penalty through different state legislation has been reflective of societies standards, since it is considered morally wrong. On the other hand, there has been increased sentences for suspected terrorists, which is not consistent with Australian societal views as it severely impacts on the human rights of the suspects involved.

What I highlighted in bold is what you MUST do in answering the question.

Also note that you are mostly describing as opposed to arguing. You NEED to actually make an argument like you would do for English (however the way you make the argument is different in this case, since the wording doesn't count that much).

 

[4025808]

What are some of the things I could have mentioned?

You could have mentioned the fact that the Young Offenders Act of 1997 has specialized in sentences for offenders under the age of eighteen years old. You would say it is reflective of community standards because almost all of society believes that children need to be educated in a specialized way so that they do not commit offences in the future.

There's more I could go on about. Would you like me to go ahead?

 

[Phoebe 123]

I guess I didn't really understand the question.

 

[enoilgam]

I will give you an example of what you could do in your introduction so that it will actually answer the question properly:

There are different types of penalties available in the criminal justice system such as imprisonment, fines and home detentions. However, the extent to which is reflects community standards and expectations is a major issue in Australia. For people to have confidence in the law, it needs to reflect community standards or otherwise the law would be considered invalid. It is evident that these types of penalties do not always reflect community standards or expectations. For example, the abolishing of the death penalty through different state legislation has been reflective of societies standards, since it is considered morally wrong. On the other hand, there has been increased sentences for suspected terrorists, which is not consistent with Australian societal views as it severely impacts on the human rights of the suspects involved.

This is the kind of intro you would expect to see in a mid-high band 6 level response.

 

[Phoebe 123]

Try giving me another question.

Guess I am not going to give up until I get it right.

 

[enoilgam]

Outline how our society attempts to reduce juvenile crime (4 marks) 2005 HSC. In this question, no analysis is required, just give an explaination.

 

[4025808]

This is the kind of intro you would expect to see in a mid-high band 6 level response.

FYI I wrote that up in the spot within 5 minutes (tbh I actually spent minimal effort in legal studies and still get really good marks relatively speaking)

But basically speaking if you want a good solid band 6 introduction, here is what you have to do

- Address the question
- Create an argument
- If it's an effectiveness question; say whether if it is effective or not (or you could say that they are both effective and effective) and then give examples. Also the criteria for effectiveness are: Equality, Human Rights, Accessibility (ie. cost, time, knowledge), Reflection of Societal Values, Resource Efficiency (you can check on the CSU HSC website)
- Keep it pretty short too. No more than 150 words imo. The body paragraphs are the places where they determine where most of your marks come from (unlike English, where the perception of what mark you will get is based on your introduction).

 

[Phoebe 123]

I have no idea how Australia actually intends to reduce juvenile crime.
But this is what I think.

Our society intends to reduce juvenile crime by social crime prevention; meaning attempts to educate the inexperienced of the law, as well as the consequences of theft, manslaughter, assault, drink driving, and murder. It should also cover the effects of such penalties of the individual. Our society can also attempt to reduce juvenile crime by encouraging parents to take their children to rehabilitating centers if their child suffers from a mental illness or a behavioral disorder. They could also take their kids to prison to see the severity of imprisonment, the most common punishment for a crime. Overall, the most effective way is not prison, but to make sure that they are educated through school, home, facilities/programs about the severity of breaking the law and penalties in place. This is to develop fear amongst all the youth.

If I lets bit out, it's because I don't really know the answer.

 

[enoilgam]

I have no idea how Australia actually intends to reduce juvenile crime.
But this is what I think.

Our society intends to reduce juvenile crime by social crime prevention; meaning attempts to educate the inexperienced of the law, as well as the consequences of theft, manslaughter, assault, drink driving, and murder. It should also cover the effects of such penalties of the individual. Our society can also attempt to reduce juvenile crime by encouraging parents to take their children to rehabilitating centers if their child suffers from a mental illness or a behavioral disorder. They could also take their kids to prison to see the severity of imprisonment, the most common punishment for a crime. Overall, the most effective way is not prison, but to make sure that they are educated through school, home, facilities/programs about the severity of breaking the law and penalties in place. This is to develop fear amongst all the youth.

Restorative justice is a good one, you could also talk about the youth offenders act which 4025808 mentioned.