Abstract:

The book analyzes how criminal sentencing courts have evolved in their understanding and portrayal of the identity, culture, and postcolonial situation of Indigenous peoples. The author conducts a critical analysis of how the judiciary has understood Indigenous difference, with a primary focus on Australian Indigenous peoples and also referencing the Canadian and New Zealand experiences. The book examines Indigenous sentencing decisions and statements made over a span of fifty years in several jurisdictions. It illustrates how discretion is shaped by cultural beliefs on Indigeneity. It also examines how the growing portrayal of Indigenous criminality and culture during sentencing has reversed previous advancements in the legal acknowledgment of Indigenous peoples. The acknowledgment of Indigenous distinction is thus demonstrated as a flexible notion that can both strip away and bestow rights.