Institutional mechanisms for incorporating the public in the development of sentencing policy

The development of sentencing policy has become problematic over the last thirty years or so in most western democracies. There are a number of different but related aspects to this. There is a perception that the public have steadily diminishing confidence in judges as sentencers. Survey evidence from a number of jurisdictions suggests that the public see judges as out of touch and their sentencing as overly lenient. Over the same period, prison populations in the same jurisdictions have risen steadily. In the US this has sometimes been deliberately engineered by politicians through legislation and the manipulation of sentencing guidelines, but in other jurisdictions, for example in the UK, sentencing appears to have become more punitive because judges, exercising their discretion, have sent more people to prison for longer. Professor Sir Anthony Bottoms (1995) has coined the phrase "populist punitiveness" to characterise this transformation. Law and order is at the top of the political agenda and political parties feel obliged to "talk tough" for electoral purposes. There is, however, another side to this story. Research using techniques such as focus groups and deliberative polling, shows that the pubic are not as punitive as survey data suggests. When people are given a case to deal with, provided with background information about criminal justice and allowed to engage in dialogue with each other, they are less punitive and more constructive and rational in their approach to sentencing (Hutton 2005). Under the conditions of a deliberative poll: accurate information, open debate and expert facilitation, it appears to be possible to stimulate rational debate about penal policy amongst the public. The trouble is it is not possible to reproduce these conditions at a national level. At this level, debate takes place through the mass media, the volume of information available is overwhelming and perplexing and political representatives have to try to win our votes. Indermauer and Hough (2002) have made a number of suggestions as to how we can try to change public attitudes largely through the provision and dissemination of information about sentencing and punishment to improve pubic knowledge and understanding. These are worthy aims, but the issue is not just about changing attitudes or providing better information, it is about the wider problem of the growing disenchantment with democratic politics

A Basic Framework for Evaluating Value Added Tax Expenditures

The label tax expenditure provides a strong indication as to what the term is intended to apply to any use of the tax system designed to provide a financial benefit. As such, a tax expenditure can be rather generally considered to be any special provision in the tax system which allows for a reduction in the amount of tax which would otherwise be due. The key term in that definition is special provision; any reduction resulting from a normal provision would, then, not be considered a tax expenditure. The starting place for any evaluation of tax expenditures is to then determine which the normal provisions are and which the special provisions are for the tax system.Financial Sector, Fiscal Policy, Tax Expenditures

Evaluation of the Costs and Benefits of Water and Sanitation Improvements at the Global Level

This study estimated the economic costs and benefits of a range of selected interventions to improve water and sanitation services. The entire analysis is based on changes in water and sanitation service levels. For developing countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) favors intervention options that are low cost, that are feasible, and do not require heavy maintenance. The costs of the interventions include the full investment and annual running costs. The benefits of the interventions include time savings associated with better access to water and sanitation facilities, the gain in productive time due to less time spent ill, health sector and patients costs saved due to less treatment of diarrheal diseases, and the value of prevented deaths. The results show that all water and sanitation improvements were found to be cost-beneficial, and this applied to all world regions

Ambulance service operational improvement

This document is the accepted manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in International Paramedic Practice copyright © MA Healthcare, after peer review and technical editing by the Publisher. To access the final edited version see http://www.internationaljpp.com/cgi-bin/go.pl/library/article.cgi?uid=100396;article=IPP_3_3_61_63Since the start of industrialisation in the beginning of the previous century, processes, and technology have evolved drastically. Technology that had been developed for a specific application was found to open new horizons in other domains. A good example is the use of sonar technology on military submarines which eventually found medical applications in medical imaging (Oakley, 1986). The paramedic profession is still considered to be a relatively young profession, and although the clinical scope of practice of ambulance staff has widened there have been few noticeable and significant changes in the way Ambulance Services operate as public service providers. There is, however, great variation in the way pre-hospital emergency care provision is delivered and organised from country to country due for example to historical, cultural, financial, and geographical factors. Other industries are significantly more driven by profit, hence efficiency and reliability are aspects that have a direct and measurable financial impact and it acts as a driver for further developments.Peer reviewedSubmitted Versio

A sentencing exception? Changing sentencing policy in Scotland

This article reviews developments in penal policy and to sentencing reform in Scotland over the last decade. The devolved government was established in 1999 following the first elections to a Scottish Parliament. Despite being part of the United Kingdom, Scotland has long maintained its own legal system, an established church and education system, and a civic culture which valued 'community, public provision of welfare and mutual support' which has been considered to be distinctively Scottish. This article examines the changing character of sentencing policy to explore whether Scottish sentencing and penal policy remains relatively distinctive in international terms

Long-term survival for a cohort of adults with cerebral palsy

The aim of this study was to investigate long-term survival and examine causes of death in adult patients with cerebral palsy (CP). A 1940–1950 birth cohort based on paediatric case referral allows for long-term survival follow-up. Survival is analyzed by birth characteristics and severity of disability from age 20 years (and age 2y for a subset of the data). Survival outcome compared with that expected in the general population based on English life tables. The main cohort consisted of 341 individuals, with 193 males and 148 females. Conditional on surviving to age 20 years, almost 85% of the cohort survived to age 50 years (a comparable estimate for the general population is 96%). Very few deaths were attributed to CP for those people dying over 20 years of age. Females survived better than males. However, females faced a greater increase in risk relative to the general population than did males. We conclude that survival outlook is good though lower than in the general population. The relative risk of death compared with the UK population decreases with age, although it shows some indication of rising again after age 50 years. Many more deaths were caused by diseases of the respiratory system among those dying in their 20s and 30s than would be expected in the general population. Many fewer deaths than expected in this age group are caused by injuries and accidents. For those people who die in their 40s and 50s, an increase in deaths due to diseases of the circulatory system and neoplasms is observed. More deaths than expected in this age group are due to diseases of the nervous system