Law students and professionals: Is the British Criminal Justice System racist (anti-white)?

Question

I'm no law student, but I was always under the impression that all people are equal under the law and nobody was above the law. If this is so, why are racially aggrevated and homophic offences given harder sentences?

A racially or homophobic agrevated GBH carries a harder sentence than just a normal GBH even though the injuries are the same. This seems unfair to me.

Why does it matter whether the attack was motivated by race or homophobia, or whether it was a white straight person they just didn't like?

Surely having harder sentences for these crimes will lead to a bias justice system and create more divisions in society. Why can't murder just be murder??

Also can a black person be convicted of a racially aggrevated offence against a white person for hating whites? Has it ever happened if it is possible?

Sorry I meant the English and Welsh legal system, not the confusing draconian Scottish one....

Answer 1

Yes!

I agree - the law is an ***!

It is WRONG for this to happen.

I hope the law will change soon.

Answer 2

You are 110% correct. In the past we have only ever been concerned with the crime itself, not the motivation, nor have we divided society into groups, so as to create seperate offences relating specifically to those groups. Murder is murder, whatever the motivation, although, I am sure that in the current climate, a racially motivated murder would attract a more severe punishment.

The law is becoming more and more feminised and more personalised each day. That is why we have so much PC nonsense around, thought crimes etc. Also, nannying legislation, the first example of which, was the compulsory wearing of seat belts. This was the first time we had been ordered to do something for our own good. That set a precedent, which has continued.

Answer 3

Actually, somebody is above the law, The Queen. Racial/ homophobic offenses are given harsher sentences, i would guess, because it is slightly more sinister because there is method. You are targetting a specific group of people. Plus there has been so much racism around that the courts need to show that it will not be tolerated. They some times do that, if there is a rise in a similar sort of case eg car jackings, judges will start to give stiffer sentences to send a message to society and show that this is serious and we are taking it seriously.

The GBH thing. The only difference with racial/ homo GBH is that it is easier to prove the required level of intent for GBH with intent, which is a more serious crime. Under s18 of the Offenses against hte person act 1871 (date may be wrong, but its in that region) GBH with intent (which actually is enough to get you convicted of murder should the person die from their injuries) is treated like murder. LIfe imprisonment (although not mandatory) whereas s20 GBH is 5years +. So thats probably where that came from.

It is obviously possible for for ethnics and blacks to be convicted of racial offenses, look at the cleric from Finsbury park (captain hook). But i do agree to an extent that society in general is being positively racist against blacks (ie racist for them) Job applications. YOu have more chance of getting a job if you're an ethnic, because everybody else is white.

Answer 4

logicallawyer has already made one of the points I was going to make...

Also going to say that, if anything, the legal system in just about every country is biased against minorities. The law, until about the last 100 years has been practiced exclusively by rich, white, men, so laws have been made to benefit this group. Poor people in general and minorities (including homosexuals) specifically get a very raw deal. Minorities are always disproportionately represented in imprisonment statistics, and gay relationships everywhere are not recognised in marriage, superannuation, insurance, divorce, adoption, artificial reproduction law and many more.

But as for your main point, the motivation of a murder doesnt make it a different crime, and many factors are taken into account in sentencing which both reduce and increase the sentence. Find an introductory law textbook with a chapter on sentencing at your library and have a look.

Answer 5

Because in this society, at this time, many people still feel that it is OK to harass people on grounds of race or sexuality. If you are white and are attacked you usually have to do something to instigate it (although not always). just walking down the street being of a different colour is no reason to be liable to violence. Anybody that commits violence on such flimsy and arbitrary grounds is indeed a greater danger to society than one who selects adversaries on grounds of action and so they should be sentenced more stringently. What else do you do about racist violence, nothing?

I do agree though when the violence extends to murder all murderers should be treated equally, anyone who can murder is of sufficient danger to society to make motivation matter less.

Answer 6

but what you don't understand is the sentencing guidelines have factors which can aggravate the sentence ie make it longer, and factors which can negate the sentence. It applies to all people, so no its not anti white or anything else. Infact it may be pro white, rich etc, but digging deeper will reveal that everything generally can be explained by public policy!

Answer 7

There is no British legal system. Each part of the UK has its own legal framework and convention. E.g Scots law is very very different from other UK law.
Apart from that, there is no real answer to your question - it comes down to a matter of opinion.