You be the Judge – A guide to sentencing

Visit: http://ybtj.justice.gov.uk/

Click for larger version (ideal for cut+paste into presentations!)

An interesting cross between an online jury, e-learning tool and game, You Be The Judge helps people think through the rationale behind sentencing (read the write up by MoJ’s Aidan Muller)

You be the Judge is an interactive tool that helps people learn more about sentencing, by putting them in the judge’s seat.

Research shows that the public don’t understand sentencing, but that more than three quarters think sentences are ‘too lenient’. Changing people’s attitudes is notoriously difficult, and measuring the impact of initiatives to do so can be just as hard.

You Be The Judge takes them through the facts of a case with a series of videos. They hear the defendant’s plea, and any aggravating or mitigating factors, before deciding on what sentence to pass. They then compare their sentence with the one handed out by a real judge.

For every three users who enter the site thinking sentencing’s too lenient, two leave it thinking it’s about right: we are succeeding in building confidence among 66% of our core audience.

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