You Be The Judge

...is a cracking new site from CJS Online. Students can hear the facts of a case, arguments relating to aggravating and mitigating factors, and choose a sentence from a range of options. They can then compare their decision to the “real” one in the case. More cases are to be added soon.

This is a great resource for teaching sentencing, criminal courts and magistrates. Also, the Times have an interesting article about public perceptions over sentencing here. It’s good on the fact that the public, when presented with the full facts of a case, tend to agree with sentencing decisions, or even tend towards the lenient side. A marked contrast with opinions based solely on media reports!