Multiple Elements Of Incarceration Within Australia 's Criminal Justice System

Transgender people in today’s society have it hard enough; going to prison is even harder due to the risks associated to someone who is transgendered. People who are transgendered risk their health and well-being while being locked up in prison. They face a variety of issues while they are incarcerated such as housing, physical, emotional abuse and most of all denial to their basic medical needs that helps express who they are through their gender.

Prison personnel have not been doing much to secure the safety and well-being of transgender inmates. Some even engage in the unruly behavior and are the dominant aspects to the problems that transgender inmates sustain. Many transgender inmates have attempted to seek justice, but their cases were thrown out. Consequently, it is imperative that people know the conditions and obstacles, in which transgender prisoners encounter while incarcerated. The problems and concerns need to be addressed in order to raise awareness, to help provide safety and security for transgender prisoners because they are humans too. This paper will raise awareness and provide insight on the challenges that transgender prisoners experience, ways to improve conditions, and what policies are already put into place.

The rate of imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians has dramatically increased since 1992. Statistics went from “1 in 7 prisoners in 1992 to 1 in 4 in 2012 and to almost 1 in 3 in 2014.” There have been an abundance of proposals, plans and programs established, some of which have failed and some which are still in development, to try decrease the high numbers. The high incarceration rate of Indigenous people in Australia is considered to be a global issue that must be addressed.

Imagine being a woman in a men’s prison. For many prisoners, this is the case because most state court correctional decide to sentence transsexual women in transition inmates based on sex assignment, not their identity. Within most dominant U.S. cultures transsexual women in transition are defined as those whose sense of gender is so absolutely opposed to their sex assignment at birth that they individuals desire to live exclusively as the opposite sex, undergo hormone treatments to align with the opposite sex, and sometimes undergo surgery to match their sexual organs with their gender identity (Stirnitzke 291). Often people are

women has increased significantly, increasing at a rate double to the rate of male incarceration since 1980 (Covington & Bloom, 2006). Braithwaite, Treadwell and Arriola note that incarcerated women have historically been a forgotten population, and despite the rapid growth of the population, their needs have continued to be ignored (2005). In addition to the stigma that comes with being or having been incarcerated,

The Australian justice system implements the adversarial system in which opposing parties present their case before an unbiased decision maker, to ensure procedural fairness and the principles of natural justice are upheld.The system has been structured this way to ensure justice is served for the victim, offender and the broader community. The nature of justice is that it is equal to all, fair from bias and is accessible. In the case on R v Rolfe and R v Weston (2017) the two offenders; Timothy Rolfe and John Weston, members of the Rebels Outlaw Motorcycle Club were sentenced at the NSW Supreme Court on a joint criminal enterprise for the murder of 29-year-old Laurence Starling. The killing was motivated by revenge for an unpaid extortion debt of $200,000 between the deceased’s business partner Mr Fields and a high-ranking member of the ‘’Rebels’’ who sent his subordinates to seize Mr Field’s assets as compensation. The complex circumstances of the crime were problematic for the justice system because particular methods had to be implemented in the process of achieving justice however the justice system was relatively effective in reaching a just outcome for majority of the stakeholders due to its resource efficiency, responsiveness, accessibility, standards of fairness, protection of individual rights and meeting society’s needs.

Justice is the concept of moral rightness that is based on equality, access and fairness. This means that the law is applied equally, understood by all people and does not have a particularly harsh effect on an individual. In Australia, the adversary system is used as a means to achieve justice by proving the accused, beyond reasonable doubt, committed the crime. The criminal trial process has many features which aim to fulfill the requirements of achieving justice. These elements, though considers equality, fairness and access, are flawed in practice. Flaws such as the handling of evidence, jurors not understanding instructions, inadequate funds for legal

The New South Wales (NSW) criminal justice system has been separated into “two tiers of justice”. The two tiers of justice involve the separation of lower and higher courts, where the lower courts are comprised of Local courts and the higher courts are comprised of District and Supreme courts. The local courts role lies mainly in exercising summary jurisdiction whereas more serious indictable offences are dealt with in higher courts. However, there is more than just a jurisdictional divide and there are other aspects that significantly distinguish the lower courts from the higher courts.

This issue highlights the distinction between services on offer within the rural districts and major cities of Australia.

The hype around globalization and the negative impact of the social media have obscured discussion on the most immediate and pressing issues that need immediate attention in the U.S justice system. The number of incarceration in the United States beginning 1970 has swollen to all time higher (Walker et al., 2012). According to Binswanger et al. (2012), American judicial system has imprisoned 2.3 million of its populace, and these are more than any other country in the world. Davis (2007) mentioned ironically that the U.S jails a quarter of the world prisoners albeit it contains merely 5% of the global population. These statistics are mind boggling for a country that has opted to teach the world fairness, justice and equality.

The criminal justice system is the system of laws established by federal and state governments to control crime by imposing penalties and punishments on those who violate these laws. Criminal law is primarily sourced from the Criminal Code Act 1899 (QLD) for the state of Queensland, and sentencing is imposed by the judiciary powers. However, the public and media have lost faith in the sentencing of criminals, which comes from the legislation of the Penalties and Sentencing Act 1992.

The Australian criminal justice system acknowledges the immaturity of young offenders compared with that of adult offenders, and thus impose system in which their crimes are dealt with. A criminal conviction relies upon a two-fold basis whereby the actus rea and mens rea must be proved, however young offenders are treated with a different level of responsibility as they have not reached adulthood. Referred to as juvenile justice, offenders under the age of 18 are recognised as requiring a greater level of protection and assistance due to their state of dependancy. Such programs are specifically geared to protect young offenders and aim to deal with youth in a more effective manner due to their increased vulnerable state.This protection is consistent throughout the criminal trial process and covers all stages starting from acknowledging the age of responsibility.

The highest rate of sexual abuse was reported by African-American transgender inmates at 34 percent. A high percentage of physical abuse against male to female (MTF) transgender inmates was at 21 percent and 11 percent of female to male (FTM) were reported. MTF also had higher incidents of sexual abuse of 20 percent to FTM reported at 6 percent (Grant, Mottet & Tanis, 2011). Another problem is non-staff correctional personnel treating transgender inmates unethically. Twenty-two percent experienced harassment when they interacted with police; 6 percent also reporting physical abuse and 2 percent reporting sexual abuse (Grant, Mottet & Tanis,

They often rape the suitable targets who are more vulnerable and those who are labeled as ‘’fresh meat’’ who need to fit in with other prisoners to prevent being a loner. The most vulnerable inmate is described as a Caucasian, middle-class male with a slight build who possesses a youthful and attractive demeanor and is most likely a first-time, non-violent Offender (Dumont, 2000; Greene, 1984). Those who are also prime targets are effeminate gays, male-to-female transsexuals and those who are unassertive, passive, shy and intellectual (Greene, 1984). The more high-risk characteristics an inmate possesses the more likely they are to be targeted. Inmates younger in age or who appear to be youthful are at high risk as well with most victimized

A prison is a sex-segregated community and sexual gratification can only be achieved through a person of the same sex. 2. Although the behavior is forbidden and regulated, it is often tolerated by corrections officers and other inmates. This passive acceptance encourages the creation of status roles, where some inmates are assigned more masculine identities while others are seen as weaker. 3. Insufficient work opportunities lead to boredom and idle time for long periods. Inmates who work are kept busy and are less likely to participate in deviant behaviors. 4. Overcrowding of prisons causes close quarters for inmates, in which they watch each other change clothes and use the bathroom. Older inmates often take advantage of this situation with the younger inmates. 5. The current classification system of inmates does not segregate individuals based on sexual preference. 6. Complete isolation from the outside world and the norms of society can influence inmates to develop their own norms, one of those entailing sexual interaction with other inmates