Justice?

[Liverpool]

As usual, more tough talking from a judge.............and yet another pissweak sentence follows

That's nothing compared to the ridiculous judge in Queensland:


A Brisbane judge's ruling that notorious pedophile Dennis Ferguson could not receive a fair trial in Queensland is an "insult to Queenslanders", child protection advocate Hetty Johnston says.
Ms Johnston, founder of child advocacy group Bravehearts, said she was horrified by Brisbane District Court Judge Hugh Botting's decision to grant a permanent stay of proceedings against Ferguson.
"We are just horrified by it. It is probably the worst decision I have ever seen come down in Queensland, or anywhere else for that matter," she told AAP.
"It's just wrong on so many levels. The thing is now he will never have an opportunity to receive a conviction for those crimes. It's not going to be tested in court."
She rejected the judge's ruling that publicity surrounding Ferguson's past convictions made it unlikely he could receive a fair trial.
"It's an insult to Queenslanders. It says that they lack the intelligence and personal integrity to be able to sit on a jury and make a sound judgement on this," she said.

http://news.smh.com.au/national/ferguson-decision-insult-to-queensland-20080702-30mi.html


Why the hell is this bloke out for anyway considering the record he has as a repeat offender?
Secondly...why have a jury system if a jury is not trusted to hand down an objective decision based on the facts before them?
And finally...will this set a precedent for any high-profile case in the future that receives a lot of media attention before going to trial?

Again....more pathetic garbage from today's judges and judicial system.

 

[Legends of 2017]

Another tough talking judge, and another weak as *smile*, soft *smile* decision

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24226268-661,00.html

FOUR racist thugs who bashed a Sudanese teenager unconscious laughed and joked as they walked free from court yesterday.

Shane Psaila, 19, Chris Carlin, 21, Andrew Hoskins, 21, and James Butler, 19, escaped jail after Judge Phillip Coish said they all had prospects of rehabilitation.

Judge Coish said the four were drunk and affected by cannabis when they set upon 17-year-old Ajang Gor, calling him a "black dog".

After they walked from the dock one of the attackers said, "Let's go to the pub to celebrate". His mates said "yeah".

Judge Coish said Mr Gor was cycling home with his brother from his part-time job when he was attacked.

The teenager was punched and a bottle was smashed over his head as he lay unconscious and bleeding in the road. Hoskins then stole his mobile phone.

Judge Coish said the unprovoked attack on October 10 last year in Melton left Mr Gor fearful and distressed, and he suffered intense headaches.

Mr Gor, who arrived in Australia in 2006, was afraid to leave his home and his studies had suffered.

After he was arrested, Psaila continued to abuse Mr Gor and told police: "He's a *smile* and shouldn't be in this country."

The judge said the fact the four were affected by drugs and alcohol was no excuse.

"This type of violent attack on a defenceless young man is deplorable and must be discouraged," the judge said.

Imposing sentences that would see them all avoid jail, the judge said he took into account the age of the accused and that the prosecution did not oppose non-custodial sentences.

Carlin, who had prior convictions for violence, received a one-year suspended jail term and a $300 fine.
Psaila, Butler and Hoskins were given community-based orders and would have to do unpaid community work.

As they left the County Court Psaila, of Echuca, Carlin and Hoskins, both of West Melton, and Butler, of South Melton, were hailed by supporters.

All had pleaded guilty to recklessly causing serious injury. Hoskins also pleaded guilty to theft of a mobile phone and Carlin to possessing a drug of dependence.

Steve Medcraft, from People Against Lenient Sentencing, said the sentences sent the wrong message.

"It says to these thugs that you can go out and bash someone to a pulp, come to court and say you're sorry, and we'll give you a bond," Mr Medcraft said.

"These guys are street-smart. Our system is so slack that it doesn't have the guts to hand out a just sentence."

Ajang Gor's uncle, Angelo Tat, said last night his nephew now lived in fear.

Mr Tat said Mr Gor, who received racist text messages after the attack, had changed his phone number and his address out of fear.

But he said his nephew would accept the court's decision, and had told him he did not want his attackers to go to jail for fear of reprisals.

"Ajang told me he does not want these people to go to jail," he said.

"He has been hiding because people have been in contact with him.

"He's changed his phone number. He's moved his address and changed schools.

"But this is up to the court to decide and we can't do anything about it.

"The law is the law."


Weak by the prosecution to not oppose non-custodial sentences, considering one had priors. Once again, the innocent victims are the ones wondering where is justice.

 

[Willo]

Where's that Krakouer thread. Let's make a comparison as to the sentences.
I hope that judge stays down there, I'd hate to have his brand of justice.

 

[Liverpool]

Another one for the "anti death penalty" lobby to protect. :
I know what I'd do with her!



Life in jail for microwave-murder mum
September 09, 2008 10:42am
A WOMAN who put her baby daughter in a microwave and burnt her to death has been jailed for life for murder.
China Arnold, 28, was found guilty on August 29 of aggravated murder in the death of month-old Paris Talley in 2005.
She was spared the death penalty after a jury in an Ohio court could not agree on her punishment.
Court of Common Pleas Judge Mary Wiseman today strongly condemned Arnold, who watched the sentencing on a monitor in another room.
"No adjectives exist to adequately describe this heinous atrocity," the judge said.
"This act is shocking and utterly abhorrent for a civilised society."
Prosecutors said Arnold intentionally put her baby in the microwave after a drunken fight with her boyfriend.
The couple had argued over whether the boyfriend was the biological father.
Arnold's lawyers said she maintained she was innocent

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24317623-663,00.html

 

[Disco08]

Roll your eyes all you like but the simple fact is life in prison is a better punishment.

 

[Liverpool]

Roll your eyes all you like but the simple fact is life in prison is a better punishment.

Really?
I think if you had a choice between watching TV, exercising each day, surfing a bit of internet, reading books and magazines, socialising with other women your age, and (with the leniency these days it wouldn't surprise me) the odd day trip out of the jail...........or being fried in a microwave after one month of your life.......who do you think got off the best here?

Secondly...why wasn't this person given LIFE in jail (at least.....death penalty if we lived under "Liverpool's Law"):

22 years' jail for train murder
September 10, 2008
A man who murdered a musician on a suburban Melbourne train has been jailed for 22 years.
Cory Acuna, 26, formerly of Kilsyth in outer Melbourne, pulled a knife from his pants and stabbed Darren Jones three times in the upper body on February 23, 2006.
Mr Jones had been sitting alone reading on the train bound for Belgrave in Melbourne's east.
Acuna, of Kilsyth, will serve a minimum of 17 years. He was convicted of murder by a Supreme Court jury in May.
Mr Jones, 28, was travelling home from a class at the Victorian College of the Arts when Acuna, who was seated opposite him, stood up.
Acuna took a large knife from his pants and stabbed Mr Jones three times in the chest as he sat reading a textbook on the Belgrave line train.
Graphic security camera footage showed the attack and Mr Jones picking up his guitar and walking from the train at Box Hill station.
He collapsed and died on the platform from a wound that pierced his rib, lung and heart.
Acuna, who injected amphetamines the night before, was arrested at the station with the bloodied knife down the front of his pants.
A police doctor described Acuna as cheerful and unworried by his situation, and found him unfit for interview.
He pleaded not guilty to the unprovoked attack on February 23, 2006, claiming his actions were not conscious or voluntary because he was suffering delusions.
Acuna told Jones owed him money and made a racist remark towards him - but the pair had never met and Mr Jones had not spoken to his attacker.
In a conversation four months before the stabbing, Acuna told a community worker he wanted to kill someone at random.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/22-years-jail-for-train-murder-20080910-4dj6.html


People wonder why the city (and other towns) are violent at night after people have been drinking and a lot worse than many years ago.
Well, the answer is simple.....our social decency has gone down the toilet due to years and years of soft sentences for crimes (like the above) and the leniency of judges as a whole.
There are no serious repercussions for perps these days.....right from when they are at school and teachers are not allowed to smack anymore.....parents are not allowed to smack....everyone is supposed to 'reason' with kids with some softly-softly approach and now the generation of kids coming through who have been more or less let to run wild with no real punishment for what they have done are continuing this attitude into adult-hood and everyone is acting surprised? :-\

We are reaping what we have sown.

 

[AngryAnt]

True dat poolman - after all, throughout human human history whenever we've had societies with the death penalty, violent crime is unheard of.

 

[Liverpool]

True dat poolman - after all, throughout human human history whenever we've had societies with the death penalty, violent crime is unheard of.

I didn't say there was violence on the streets because we didn't have the death penalty.
To me, the death penalty isn't a deterrent, it is simply a measure to rid the world of certain individuals who deserve it.

What I DID say was that violence in the streets has increased due to the soft sentence of judges and the way society has brought up the generation who are now reaching drinking/going-out age.
The people comitting violence out on the streets know...."hey, whats going to happen to me? a few months in jail or a commiunity-based order and I carry on my merry way"...while the victims sometimes are scarred for the rest of their lives.

 

[barty boy]

someone here might know the figures better than me ,but i recall reading some statistics that showed that the crime rate has remained at the same level since 1900.its just that our population has increased over that period.
Me thinks fear is used by governments sometimes to achieve their objectives whatever they may be

 

[AngryAnt]

I've heard that kind of statement before, but that kind of thing is very hard to measure given that what is defined as crime has changed and there are very different patterns of reporting of crime and collection of statistics. I did find this http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/other/centenary/ which mentions that Australia actually had less violent crime at the end of the 20th century than it had at the end of the 19th century. Also homicide rates have decreased markedly since 2000 - apparently Howard's gun laws post Port Arthur actually had a very real effect in reducing homicide in Australia. However other types of violent crime (assault for example) have increased since 2000.

It's far from a simple picture and simplistic ideas about capital and corporal punishment are usually wrong. Apparently crime rates in 2000 were sky high as there was a glut of heroin on the streets at that time - with heroin droughts all sorts of crime rates go down as junkies have less motivation to commit crimes as there is less heroin available to buy.

 

[barty boy]

The sun today mentiones that commuters in London and New York are safer than us Melbournians.surely this cant be correct..

 

[Disco08]

Really?
I think if you had a choice between watching TV, exercising each day, surfing a bit of internet, reading books and magazines, socialising with other women your age, and (with the leniency these days it wouldn't surprise me) the odd day trip out of the jail...........or being fried in a microwave after one month of your life.......who do you think got off the best here?

You miss the point. For starters, the jails where people are sent to serve life sentences and not like you describe. At all. The other point is that life in prison is a far greater deterrent to most psychopaths than death.

Completely agree that 22 years for that crime is a complete joke though.

 

[1eyedtiger]

You miss the point. For starters, the jails where people are sent to serve life sentences and not like you describe. At all. The other point is that life in prison is a far greater deterrent to most psychopaths than death.

Completely agree that 22 years for that crime is a complete joke though.

The problem is that a life sentence in Australia isn't a life sentence. Far from it. Eventually they get out and some other innocent civilian has to suffer the consequences while governments wipe their hands clean. I agree with Livers, remove these people permanently.

As discussed in another thread, I only support the death penalty in cases where this is no doubt about guilt. Life sentence (And it should really be life) otherwise unless it becomes known that is no doubt at a later time.

What about the practice of prisoners serving multiple sentences concurrently. Why shouldn't they serve them consecutively? When they die in prison, they can be cremated and set into the wall of the cell they occupied for the next prisoner to look at. When the sentence is up, remove them from the wall and bury.

 

[Liverpool]

This would be more laughable if it wasn't so serious:


Teens to judge peers in radical Brumby plan
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24495195-661,00.html


I've got a wild idea people...it might work.....you see, you have a judge and he hands down a deserved sentence to someone who breaks the law.
Crazy, I know....

FFS!

 

[Legends of 2017]

This would be more laughable if it wasn't so serious:


Teens to judge peers in radical Brumby plan
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24495195-661,00.html


I've got a wild idea people...it might work.....you see, you have a judge and he hands down a deserved sentence to someone who breaks the law.
Crazy, I know....

FFS!

And there lies a problem Livers. How often does that happen?

 

[Freezer]

Teens to judge peers in radical Brumby plan
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24495195-661,00.html

:rofl

 

[eight ace]

Liverpool, you have never known social decency in your life. Don't pretend you are capable of recognising it.

 

[Liverpool]

Liverpool, you have never known social decency in your life. Don't pretend you are capable of recognising it.

Well, well....I see your hiatus from the forum hasn't improved your posting skills.... :yellowno
No opinions on the topic or thread, just more personal slangs at myself.

While I am flattered that you aim a post at me after not seeing you on here since our discussion on Islams about 2 years ago (I'm still waiting on that answer :cutelaugh)....I am sure the other posters on here would find your contribution more palpable if you stuck to the topic or argued your point.

If you are not capable at doing this, then maybe another hiatus from here would be more beneficial for you and for the forum alike.

 

[the claw]

As usual, more tough talking from a judge.............and yet another p!ssweak sentence follows

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23911945-2862,00.html

Remember young Sudanese refugee victim, killers told

TWO men who senselessly killed a young Sudanese refugee were told to think of their victim every day as they were sentenced to at least three years' jail yesterday.

Justice Betty King said yesterday the death of Morgan Harris Morgan, 20, was a terrible waste and an example of "gross stupidity and futility".

She added: "This was a disgraceful episode. A clear example of mob rule fuelled by alcohol and aggression."

Mr Morgan was trying to act as peacemaker between his friends and a large group of youths when he was slashed to death with a broken bottle in a Southbank park in March 2006.

The Supreme Court heard the incident began when a teenager, who cannot be named, asked for and was refused alcohol by a member of Mr Morgan's group.

The court heard the youth, now 20, encouraged his friends to launch an assault and was wrestling Mr Morgan when co-offender Kristofer Simpas attacked him with the broken bottle.

Mr Morgan bled to death from a neck wound -- six years after his family fled halfway across the world to escape the violence of Sudan.

Simpas, 21, of West Preston, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and intentionally causing serious injury.

The youth pleaded guilty to manslaughter and affray.

Justice King said she was incapable of understanding why so many young people -- one aged just 12 -- were drinking outside Crown casino late at night.

"It is a reflection of our society, and not a positive reflection, that so many young people can be out on the streets of Melbourne, intoxicated, without their parents having any knowledge of their whereabouts," she said.

Justice King told Mr Morgan's family that his death was a terrible waste and no sentence could alleviate their pain.

Addressing the attackers, the judge said: "You need to think about this man every day for the rest of your life.

"Remember this, and remember where it leads -- to the totally senseless loss of another young life."

Mr Morgan's mother, Anna, said she thanked God she was alive today after falling into a deep depression following her son's death.

"Morgan was my sunshine, my baby," she said in a victim impact statement.

"Morgan's death killed everything good in the house, no more life. Everyone is very depressed, no more joy, happiness as a result of Morgan's death."

Justice King said it was "truly tragic" that the youth, who also fled to the safety of Australia from a violent homeland, was involved in the death of another refugee.

She said Simpas was a binge drinker but accepted he had remorse and good prospects of rehabilitation.

Simpas was sentenced to a maximum of four years and nine months in jail, and the youth to four years and eight months.

With time served, they will be eligible for parole early next year.

hmm justice. clearly the only justice in this case would be at the end of a gun or knife. that would make it revenge. revenge is what happens when theres no justice. again if morgan was myson and those kids got that sentence both would not be long for this world.

 

[Legends of 2017]

hmm justice. clearly the only justice in this case would be at the end of a gun or knife. that would make it revenge. revenge is what happens when theres no justice. again if morgan was myson and those kids got that sentence both would not be long for this world.

It's at the stage where I feel the same way. Very little faith in our 'justice' system at the moment, or the past few years for that matter.