Jonathan Kobrinksi

Jonathan Kobrinksi

U.S. Fulbright Postgraduate Scholar

Media Profile

“Australia has taken a different approach to sentencing reform than the United States. Unlike the U.S. Congress that relies heavily on grids and mandatory sentencing, the Australian Parliament has legislated criteria for judges to process a case-by-case adjudication. I am interested in the role of judicial discretion in determining sentences and its final result of deterring crime and promoting equity in the system.”

Jonathan Kobrinski is one of fourteen Americans to be granted a Fulbright Postgraduate Award in 2006. He will conduct research at the La Trobe University into comparative sentencing law and policy in the United States and Australia.

Jonathan is currently undertaking a Juris Doctor at Yale University Law School having graduated with a Bachelors of Arts from Rutgers University with majors in history and political science. In Australia he will be based at La Trobe University working with Roger Douglas, Professor of Law and Director of Honours Research and Graduate Studies.

The Australian legal system has many similarities to the United States system especially in its adversarial nature, the federative system, the hierarchy of courts, the judges’ role in sentencing and the importance placed on the presumption of innocence. Jonathan will compare the sentencing reform legislation enacted in the United States and Australia and to what degree, and in what ways it is aimed at circumscribing a judge’s discretion. He will also analyse why the reform movements are different in light of the social, political, and cultural differences of the two nations.

The Hon Justice Michael Kirby, High Court of Australia, commented in support of Jonathan’s research, “…the examination of comparative sentencing policy, and particularly of new and unconventional legislative provisions for sentencing prisoners convicted of unpopular crimes, merits close attention. I believe that Kobrinski’s research could contribute important insights to matters of mutual legal concern … and promote mutual understanding between lawyers and legal institutions in our two countries”.

“Australia has experimented with mandatory sentencing in limited contexts. These actions have proved to be controversial and studies have shown they have exacerbated the over-representation of aboriginals in the Australian prison system. It is issues like this that I plan to explore through my research,” stated Jonathan.

Jonathan’s career goals are rooted in trial advocacy and academia. Recently he brought these two passions together representing three Congolese refugees and one Guinean refugee in their bids for political asylum in the United States through Yale’s immigration clinic.

“I felt electrified as I argued in front of the Immigration Judge. Being a first generation American, I realise that my legal education should be put to use to enrich other peoples’ direction in life,” Jonathon noted.