In his Supreme Court address on Monday, Attorney General Mike Peyreffite, committed to an open door policy, where any member of the legal community could engage him on any snag in the legal system and work along with him to fix it. He also mentioned that he would be working with fellow attorney, Anthony Sylvester, to possibly adjust minimum sentence legislature. We spoke to Sylvester today about why he thinks this is an important area in the law to focus on. He gave us an example of the case of a minor sent to jail for 12 years because he had sex with another minor...
Anthony Sylvester – Attorney
"An individual he was convicted and sentenced to 12 years for carnal knowledge. He was 15 years at the time, and the female was 13 years at the time. Here it was that you had two high schoolers, he was in third form she was in first form. And this individual was convicted and was sentenced with 12 years; he's been in prison serving a 12 year sentence since 2011. And so that instances like that, those of us who practice at the criminal bar realize that these mandatory minimum sentences, they do create disproportionate and cruel sentences in certain instances, and there needs to be a complete revision of the laws that determine the appropriateness of it.
"These are all things that those of us who practice at the criminal bar believe should be looked at, so it is something which certainly we welcome, and I'm sure there are many other attorneys who would as well put their input because this is something that will be of great benefit to the country and to persons who are affected by the criminal justice system."
"However is anybody taking into account the victims. Yes, you defence attorneys, fuelled by international human rights agencies, have taken on the cause of the convicted. However, there's so many victims of crime who feel that the persons who cause them trauma or their family so much grief are not properly penalized, or most times are not even convicted. Where are their rights?
Well no, we are not advocating for the legislature for laws to be passed to go easy on them. What we are saying is that mandatory minimum sentences, at times, it ties the hand of a court. I gave the instance of the young man who was 15 years old/ You know he was convicted of carnal knowledge of a 13 year old. The man got 12 years. I mean, that is a grossly disproportional sentence that is something that in any standard considered cruel and inhumane. 05:03 But there may be other instances where maybe a 50 year old who is charged with raping a 13 year old, who should not only get 12 years, but perhaps maybe get 60 years of so. What is being suggested is that you give and allow the court to look at the facts and to determine the appropriate sentence."
By altering the minimum sentence laws, judges would have more freedom in handing down judgments based on the particular circumstances of a case, rather than being forced to give someone a possibly disproportional punishment.
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