The words below are matters of opinion. No express criticism is implied or directed at the Queensland Police Service, any particular Magistrate or Judge. The comments are general, based upon observations of reality.
Once, perhaps twice per week, Australian women are bashed, harassed, or murdered by their partners/husbands, who are free to do so because they have been bailed from Court by unelected, activist Magistrates and Judges, who are practising therapeutic justice.
The world, in which these officials inhabit, is not troubled by the brutal reality of the day-to-day struggle for existence by women who live alone and who try to raise children, work, have some kind of social life, and who have ever present in their minds and souls the coiled spring of fear of ‘will he come tonight’, ‘will he find me here’, ‘what will I do when he smashes the down the door’, ‘will the Police make it in time’. No Sir, these officials inhabit the land of small towers and balconies from which they can pronounce their interpretation of justice.
Long gone are the days of black letter law. Assault means assault, murder means murder.
This is now the age of therapeutic justice. Courts, not all of them by any means, but enough, are occupied by, unelected, and therefore not publicly responsible, Magistrates and Judges who have assumed the mantle of community saviours. Perhaps out of necessity, who knows! But all social problems and various other tedious and troublesome matters can be dealt with by counselling, diversionary programs, undertakings by defence lawyers, usually publicly funded, and a view that they and they alone are the sole arbiters of the communities’ ills and injustices.
But, in our communities there exists an iron law. A social contract between the huge number of citizens who live their lives according to the law of our land, upholding the law of our land and accepting the consequences if they break the law of the land, no matter how trivial that maybe, from traffic fines to serious matters of assault and murder of their fellow citizens. In return, our governments, and the major institutions of our governments, the justice system, the law enforcement agencies etc, are socially contracted to protect our communities and our citizens as they go about their lawful daily lives.
We know however, because we see it in the print and electronic media, that a major part of that contract has been breached.
Women have been raped and murdered by serial rapists on bail. Women are regularly abused and murdered by men, their ex-partners or husbands/de-factos’ who are on bail. Assaults beyond sensible counting are committed by young, alcohol fuelled men on bail for previous assaults. And so it goes!
Communities are beginning to complain.
Our Court system, objectively speaking overloaded, deliver a form of therapeutic justice comprising of diversionary programs, rehabilitation houses, and focus groups. ‘Happy clapping’ rather than the application of black letter law.
Large numbers of our citizens feel threatened as gangs of disaffected youths from African countries rampage through Victoria on occasions, and weird loners drive motor vehicles through crowds of people. The Victorian Police appear frustrated and apparently angry at the way that State’s Court system seems to run a revolving door of bail applications, recently addressed by establishing a ‘night Court’. Social crusading journalists, talking heads on our TV screens find ways of justifying everything.
None of this is anyone’s fault, no-one is responsible except the vague concept of ‘the Government’ and the solution is more money must be spent to fix it. Our money!
Cranky Lizard says too many empty words have been spoke.
Too many nonsense enquiries have been conducted. Too much bullshit has been spread about.
Enough!
Stop the therapeutic justice, apply the laws as written and demand that Governments hold the justice system to account.