Under British and Australian laws a jury in a criminal case has no access to information about the defendant’s past criminal record. This protects the person who is being accused of the crime. Some lawyers have suggested that this practice should be changed and that a jury should be given all the past facts before they reach their decision about the case. Do you agree or disagree?

Several countries in the British

common wealth

the official name of some states in the United States (Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and Virginia and Kentucky) and associated territories (Puerto Rico)

commonwealth

do not provide the

jury

access

to a defendant’s past criminal record to ensure a fair trial. Some lawyers who oppose

this

perspective believe the

jury

should be provided a complete picture of the defendant’s past so that they can make a more informed decision. While it is true that past behaviour can be a prediction of future behaviour, I agree with the status quo since people are inherently biased, and sentencing should be for rehabilitation, not punishment.

To begin

with, it is important that a

jury

remains objective throughout the trial. Bias is an inherent part of human nature, and a well functioning judicial system will attempt to minimize it. If a

jury

has

access

to a defendant’s criminal past, they could develop negative feelings towards the defendant which may cloud their judgement.

For instance

, bias can be seen in schools where a teacher perceives a student to be bad based on the opinion of other teachers, not on their observations of the student. Unfortunately, in most cases, these students do not succeed

academic

Suggestion

academically

. The stakes are even higher in criminal cases. Along with minimizing bias, criminal sentencing

should focused

Suggestion

should focus

on rehabilitation, not punishment. The most beneficial outcome is if a criminal can be rehabilitated and become a productive member of society. Giving a

jury

access

to a

criminal’s

Suggestion

criminal

past record may result in harsher sentencing since it is difficult for a

jury

to untangle pathos from logos.

However

, statistics across numerous US

states

Suggestion

state

state's

prisons show that the punitive measures have little effect on lowering the recidivism rates.

On the other hand

, rehabilitation programs are more effective to integrate criminals back into society.

Therefore

, the

jury

should only focus on the case at hand. In short, a

jury

should not have

access

to a defendant’s criminal history to ensure a fair trial and the most effective form of sentencing that will benefit all.