Russell Marks’ Black Lives, White Law is not about solutions; it’s about identifying the problems with Australia’s criminal legal system, and the injustice it does to First Nations people.
Despite the disproportionate numbers of Aboriginal people in prisons, there are near to no cultural protocols in place, and chronic illness is often not addressed.
The prison system is tasked with several purposes: punishment, deterrence, protection and rehabilitation.
AAP/Paul Miller
The largest increases in Australia’s prison numbers have been in remand, Indigenous and women prisoners.
Electronic monitoring typically involves fitting offenders with tamper-proof bracelets to monitor whether they are abiding by conditions imposed on them.
Flickr/Chris Yarzab
Kathy Laster, Victoria University and Ryan Kornhauser, Victoria University
The days of prison, an 18th-century industrial institution, as the justice system’s dominant form of punishment may be numbered. Electronic monitoring of offenders is one promising alternative.