A century ago those who committed murder were most likely to have their life end swinging on a length of rope. Today, nobody in this country is executed for any sort of crime.
Murder has now been refined to a points system. Each case is judged on it's merits and the more points allocated - the longer the sentence.
For instance, a drunken argument that leads to violence - ending in the death of a person - in not premeditated and fits in the lower end of the scale. On the other hand - a murder planned over a period and with the objective of gain ratchets up more points and is sentenced accordingly.
The sentence handed down does not necessarily have any bearing on the term to be served. These days a judge can have the best of both worlds. Public sentiment can be satisfied by handing down a twenty year sentence, immediately mitigated by the imposition of the number of years to be served before parole.
Even that is not the end of it. Any time on remand before the trial will be deducted from the sentence, and if the prisoner behaves in prison there is every chance that the parole board will move to amend the non parole period by way of a reduction.
To a large degree this largess is related to the almighty dollar. It costs a mint of money to keep a person in gaol - and judges are under pressure to tone down their instinct and keep the prison system manageable.
It seems that the last thing taken into account by the twenty-first century justice system is the expectation of the victim of crime. Sentiment has a negative balance when weighed on the scales of justice !
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