Tuesday 27 May 2008

Where is the justice in Australian courts?

What is going on in the courtrooms of Australia? A number of commentators including Andrew Bolt and Tim Blair have started to notice a disturbing trend.
A RESPECTED Aboriginal elder who bashed his wife before smashing a glass door over her head, killing her, has been sentenced to...
Before we get to the sentence the following should be noted:
Camfoo had been convicted for two previous assaults on his wife and was under a restraining order at the time of her death.
He had a history of violence and should not have been anywhere near his wife. So what was the sentence?
...at least four years and six months in jail.
That is outrageous.

How is what Camfoo did any different to Robert Farmer's horrific attack on Lauren Huxley? Farmer has been found guilty and the prosecutor has asked for the maximum 25 year custodial sentence to apply.

But
there's more:
Nine males who pleaded guilty last month to gang-raping a 10-year-old girl at the Aurukun Aboriginal community on Cape York...
Can you think of an appropriate sentence for gang rape?
...have escaped a prison term...
Can you think of a reason the judge would have to come up with such a travesty of justice?
...with the sentencing judge saying the child victim "probably agreed" to have sex with them.
The mind boggles. If the girl was white then what would the outcome have been? If the attackers were Middle Eastern and had organised it by SMS then what would it have been?

Because she agreed then she's not a victim, apparently. She consented. Sounds like the same defence being given of Bill Henson who displays photos of naked 13 year old girls.

Unsurprisingly in Victoria, given the Labor government's history of appointing activist judges:
A TEENAGER who bashed a 75-year-old great-grandmother in her bed has avoided jail because a judge thought he was too skinny and "worth a chance".

Judge David Parsons described Ashley Wayne Brooks' attack on Barbara Durea as sickening. But he said Brooks, 19, was a disadvantaged young Aborigine whose chances of rehabilitation were reasonably good.

Judge Parsons said because of his youth and slight build, Brooks would not fare well in an adult prison.
Excuse me? So if you're well built then you're more likely to be sent to prison in Jude David Parsons' court? Again, if Brooks was white then would the same leniency apply?

Meanwhile, an elderly lady will live in fear for the rest of her days, unable to sleep at night, starting at every little noise while the person who bashed her unconscious gets away with a two year term in a 'youth justice centre'.

These cases highlight a disturbing distortion of morality by judges. Activism has no place in our courts.

I don't care what side of politics people come from. If they are prepared to promote partisan activism over correct application of the law then they have no place in our court system.

(Nothing Follows)

1 comment:

Ellen K said...

It's not just Australia. Over here in the US, in Texas, Mexican nationals come across the borders and commit similar offenses only to be saved by the Mexican consulate. In one especially egregious case, a young woman who was a college student was evidently carjacked and murdered by an assailant who fled across the Rio Grande. He was extradited only under the condition that he not recieve the death penalty. So here's a 19 year old girl who was assaulted, murdered, her body set on fire and yet for the Mexican government, she's just another gringa. And they wonder why so many Americans are skeptical at the motives of those who come here illegally. It's all over. Those who have political agendas will use any means necessary, including allegations of racism, to push their causes. At some point, the pendulum will swing back, but I am afraid that this is how totalitarian regimes get into power, via governments that place the needs of the individual above the needs of the majority.
Story here or you can google Melanie Goodwin.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/dallas/stories/052208dnmetslaying.17043b9c.html