One Problem With Televising Courts
This is a true story and some would think it would be good television. I don’t! But it illustrates the fact that a lot of cases contain things that really shouldn’t be broadcast. After all, our court system is open and anybody can go and look if they are interested.
My late wife was a barrister and once she was prosecuting a man for a sexual assault. She could hear a rustling behind her in the public gallery and quick look confirmed that a teacher was bringing in a class of school children to see how the court worked. She carried on, but her next question to a witness was not very appropriate. “When did you first notice that the defendant had an erection?” She then heard shrieks of laughter from behind her and then a lot of whispering as the children were quickly escorted out.
I bet those kids never forgot their first day in court!
She would repeat this story every time, televising courts was mentioned, to show how you can never be sure what will happen and how do you ensure that justice is fair and correct to all parties.
G4S Tags Offender’s False Leg
I like this story.
The offender’s surname was Lowcock, so perhaps G4S should have realised he wasn’t your normal customer.
Perhaps they should tag criminals round the neck, with an electronic sign on the front, detailing their offences!
Let’s Get Gaddafi To The Hague
I suspect that the cruel and idiotic Gaddafi has a few tricks up his sleeves yet. But wouldn’t it be a victory for everybody, especially the Libyan people, if he felt the respected justice of the International Criminal Court.
If they’re short of cells, he could share with some of the other dictators and war criminals under arrest in The Hague. They all deserve each other.
The Facebook Two
Two men have been given substantial prison sentences for trying to organise a riot in Chester by using Facebook. as the BBC reports here. But they must have been two of worst riot organisers in history as no-one turned up.
Perhaps, the good people of Cheshire, have more morals, than these two have common sense.
You don’t send people to prison for this type of crime, especially when it would appear that nothing got damaged and no-one got hurt.
What they need is some form of creative community punishment. Perhaps, there is a derelict site that could be converted into a garden! Or some coal that needs painting white!
One is certainly appealing, and I’ll be very surprised if the sentence stands.
The Vengeance Tendency Hi-Jacks the E-Petitions
According to this report on the BBC, there are dozens of e-petitions calling for the government to bring back hanging. So the spiteful and vengeful in the UK population celebrate the suspension of the death penalty in Japan in an appropriate way.
I am one of the few people in the UK, who has met someone, who was sentenced to death in the UK. He was later reprieved and went on to be well-known on television for his work. How does the vengeance tendency square with such miscarriages of justice? I suppose it’s alright for someone to get hung to discourage the others, even if they are innocent. Unless of course, you happen to be that person.
I think I’l start an e-petition to stop the NHS wasting taxpayers money on homeopathy! Perhaps the money saved could be used to pay for the death penalty. After all for many the result is the same!
Japan SuspendsThe Death Penalty
Japan and the United States are the two major countries of the western world, who still have the death penalty. There are reports today, that the new justice minister, Eda Satsuki has effectively susoended capital punishment. There’s a detailed report here on UPI.
He is also quoted in The Times as saying “Human beings are rational creatures. I think it’s wrong-headed to claim that taking the life of a person is the expression of a rational nature”.
I’ll agree with that.
The Caroline Law
I like this story in the Guardian. Here’s an extract.
A London judge has made legal history by becoming the first to deliver a verdict on her own after discharging a jury.
Recorder Caroline English performed the unprecedented role at Wood Green crown court because a friend of the accused was alleged to have been in regular contact with a woman juror and have passed information on voting intentions.
Under the 2003 Criminal Justice Act, judges may continue a trial on their own if satisfied the jury has been subject to interference and that the defendants can still have a fair trial. The provision had never previously been used.
I also have a friend, who is a judge with the same first name. She has a reputation for a similar robustness and sensible interpretation of the law.
So the next time, you’re in the dock, make sure the judge isn’t a Caroline or perhaps a Charles!
Clarke Loses to the Vengeance Tendency
Sadly, it looks like the progressive sentencing policy of Kenneth Clarke will be dropped according to reports this morning. The Mail and Sun are triumphant.
So what are the government to do now to cut the prison population? Regrettably, I don’t think they’ll be able to do it, so are we to see more prisons being built. I hope not! As the current crime academies, with little or no rehabilitation and education, do not too much to stop offenders going back to a life of crime.
But there is hope from the United States. There crime is dropping and no-one seems to know why. Read this article on the BBC web site, which offers a range of reasons, like Obama being elected President, computer games distracting possible criminals, the deterrent effect of camera-phones and abortion meaning that less prospective recruits are being born.
Many of the factors postulated by American researchers would apply in most places in Europe.
We Could All Learn From This
India has just released their oldest prisoner, who was 108. He looks extremely dangerous as he is carried from jail by his relatives in this story on the BBC web site.
How many prisoners in jails in the UK and around the world should be released as they are ill or demented and well past an age at which they can do anybody harm?
Will LulzSec Target the UK Legal System Over Jailing of Joanne Fraill?
LulzSec are a group of hackers, who have broken into various computer systems all over the world, including a web site linked with the CIA.
I do wonder whether the jailing of Joanne Fraill for discussing a case where she was a juror on Facebook, will get a response from LulzSec. Especially, as some reports say all jurors who use Facebook to discuss cases will be jailed.
How long before the idiots on Facebook start a “Free joanne Fraill” campaign?
I can’t help feeling, that this one will run and run and in a direction that the government and the judges won’t like.
What Joanne Fraill did was wrong, but then it was also incredibly stupid. So are we now jailing people for doing things, they don’t have the intelligence to realise are wrong? In Joanne Fraill’s case, she should have been given a community sentence. Perhaps one working with the victims and problems of drug addiction, that her actions have inadvertently made worse, by stopping a trial of drug dealers.
The Anonymous Widower 