A Matter of Small Importance: SES* and Magistrates' Court Outcomes

Abstract

Following a critical examination of hypothesised links between SES and court outcomes, this paper examines the extent to which SES is related to Victorian Magistrates' Court decisions. On the basis of multivariate analyses of plea, verdict and sentence, the paper concludes that the impact of SES is slight but generally in the predicted direction. Examination of the reasons for such SES outcome relationships as exist suggest that differential access to legal resources underlies SES-verdict relationships, but that SES sentence relationships are better understood in terms of the relationship between SES and the relative impact of different sentences for particular defendants. Different magistrates appear to react to SES in different ways.