Body-worn cameras may seem to be a boost for policing and criminal justice, but they raise a host of issues around admissibility, privacy and fairrness.
How can justice be blind to race?
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The UK government’s move to electronically track criminals on parole shows how wearable technology can become a virtual prison.
Homeless young people have a significantly higher prevalence of adverse health issues and greater levels of contact with the justice system.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
A new report’s findings provide a strong economic rationale for investing in early intervention to stem the flow of young people into homelessness.
Victoria needs an improved web of accountability to link various sectors together to ensure family violence perpetrators are made visible and accountable.
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Victoria’s family violence system unintentionally protects male perpetrators by making them invisible and providing opportunities for them to avoid responsibility.
We view future crimes as more deserving of punishment than past ones.
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Many young people in jail suffer fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Diagnosing these before sentencing will establish the most appropriate path for these vulnerable offenders, which often isn’t jail.
Dyson Heydon prided himself throughout his judicial career on the robust independence and intellectual integrity he brought to the role.
AAP/Renee Nowytarger
How has a former judge with an avowed commitment to judicial independence and probity found himself at the centre of a very public controversy over his own impartiality?
Questions are being asked about why Man Haron Monis was free on bail, but a witch-hunt is unlikely to improve the process of deciding when to keep an accused person in custody.
AAP/Dean Lewins
The spotlight is on a 2013 decision to grant bail to Man Haron Monis, the man responsible for the Lindt Cafe siege a year later. It must be hoped risk-averse politicians can avoid knee-jerk responses.
Citizens’ juries are one mechanism to draw on informed public opinion to guide policy.
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It is claimed ‘tough on crime’ policies reflect public opinion, but a properly informed public, via models such as citizens’ juries, is likely to arrive at different views on prison and its alternatives.
Mob rules. Encitement and entrapment.
Robert Couse-Baker
Forensic science has revolutionised justice, but we may have too much faith in it.
The outrage of the parents of Thomas Kelly at the sentence imposed on Kieran Loveridge for the manslaughter of their son helped push the NSW government to revisit its promise to allow victim impact statements to influence sentences.
AAP/Jane Dempster
In the wake of the sentencing of Kieran Loveridge for the manslaughter of Thomas Kelly, the New South Wales government has been busy drafting new sentencing laws. The government is consulting about a proposal…
Sally Kuether has no right of access to any secret evidence against her but faces a mandatory six months’ jail if convicted under Queensland anti-bikie laws.
AAP/Miranda Forster
In a courtroom crowded with supporters, Queensland woman Sally Kuether was released on bail late last month. Kuether, a librarian, had been arrested and held in custody for six days under the state’s notorious…