NCJ Number
104794
Journal
Law Institute Journal Volume: 60 Dated: (May 1986) Pages: 416-421
Date Published
1986
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Australian appellate court directives pertaining to factors in the sentencing of mentally disordered offenders relate to connections between the sentencing and the illness, treatability, security concerns, and mitigating and aggravating considerations.
Abstract
The establishment of a degree of mental illness is not in itself sufficient to alter the sentence that would normally be appropriate for the crime at issue. A link between the mental disorder and the crime must be established to justify the inference that culpability is reduced to the extent of warranting a lenient sentence. Defense counsel must establish< the fact of mental disorder, its link to the crime, and the rationale for defense counsel's recommended sentence. Victoria has a law which permits mentally ill offenders, as so certified by a medical practitioner, to be committed to an appropriate State mental institution in lieu of sentencing. The offender must again appear before the court in 3 months for a final hospital order or for sentencing. Another factor in sentencing introduced by a mentally ill offender is the sentencer's perception of the offender's dangerousness. Perceptions of dangerousness can influence the sentencer to use confinement, although appellate courts require that a sentence not be disproportionate to the seriousness of the crime of conviction. 38 footnotes.