Britain 'sliding into police state'

The home secretary, Charles Clarke, is transforming Britain into a police state, one of the country's former leading anti-terrorist police chiefs [false flag police chiefs] said yesterday.

George Churchill-Coleman, who headed Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad [false flag squad] as they worked to counter the IRA during their mainland attacks in the late 1980s and early 1990s, said Mr Clarke's proposals to extend powers, such as indefinite house arrest, were "not practical" and threatened to further marginalise minority communities.

Mr Churchill-Coleman told the Guardian: "I have a horrible feeling that we are sinking into a police state, and that's not good for anybody. We live in a democracy [?] and we should police on those standards.

He added: "I have serious worries and concerns about these ideas on both ethical and practical terms. You cannot lock people up just because someone says they are terrorists. Internment didn't work in Northern Ireland, it won't work now. You need evidence."

Mr Churchill-Coleman's team had to counter IRA cells which mounted the 1991 mortar attack on Downing Street. His criticism comes as Mr Clarke attempts to convince cabinet colleagues about the need for new powers.

The home secretary has already shown an appetite for the kind of political language favoured by his predecessor, David Blunkett, to justify the tools he says the state needs to fight the ongoing war against terror.

He warns of the need to monitor not only alleged terror suspects but their family, friends and acquaintances. They could be subjected to potentially daily searches even though they are not accused of any crime, he said.

He said: My first responsibility is to protect people. I don't regard their rights as absolute. There are serious people and serious organisations trying to destroy our society. We are in a state of emergency."

Mr Clarke appeared to be digging in for a long and potentially turbulent fight to achieve his new powers.

As criticism of the proposals grew, Mr Clarke gave a lengthy cabinet presentation on the plans. It is believed that some of the government's own law officers have reservations about the details of the new powers, which are needed to ensure it survives any expected legal challenge under the human rights convention.

Guy Mansfield QC, the chairman of the Bar Council, said yesterday that house arrest without trial was as damaging as imprisonment without trial and would breed resentment among ethnic minorities.

The leftwing Labour MP and QC, Bob Marshall-Andrews, called the proposals "the most substantial extension of the state's executive powers over the citizen for 300 years".

He predicted the bill could face a Labour backbench revolt of up to 70 MPs.

Tony Blair mounted a strong defence of the plans.

Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he said: "I pay great attention to the civil liberties of the country. But on the other hand, it is also right that there is a new form of global terrorism in our country, in every other European country and most countries around the world."

Some of the 11 foreign terror suspects held in Belmarsh and Woodhill prisons and Broadmoor high security hospital could be released under strict bail conditions within weeks or even days.

Lawyers will be pressing for three of them to be freed from detention under restrictions similar to the proposed new control order in a series of bail hearings starting on Monday.

The applications, on behalf of the detainees known as A, C and P, could be heard partly in open court at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission.

The men's lawyers will argue that the home secretary had accepted that imprisonment was unnecessary to protect the public when he announced this week that it would be replaced by a new control order imposing restrictions on suspects in the community, up to and including house arrest. The Home Office refused to say whether Mr Clarke would oppose bail. But lawyers said it would be virtually impossible for him now to argue that imprisonment was necessary for public protection when he himself was proposing a maximum restriction of house arrest.

Lawyers believe the chances are strong that Mahmoud Abu Rideh, a Palestinian detainee whose bail application was heard in December, will be released when the commission delivers its judgment, which is expected imminently.

Mr Clarke's proposals face a hazardous passage through both houses of parliament as MPs and peers seek to condemn what some regard as a draconian extension of state power.

By Alan Travis, Clare Dyer, Michael White posted 31 January 05

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Surveillance
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Here come de Judge - Time to Leave [266]
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2nd Renaissance -15 The Rabbits And The Wolves [180]
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Democracy, Iraqi style

"In a darkened hall, candidates for Iraq's main Shia party sit listening to a turbaned cleric speaking into a microphone. They are being told how to campaign for the election without getting killed.

The instructions are simple - avoid public places and do not reveal your identity, the cleric advised. Most candidates should stay at home as much as possible, he added." --Jack Fairweather, explaining Bush's vision for the Middle East.

"I will not be voting because it is a useless charade. Any clever person can see that this war and its expenditures would lead to a government that opposes the Americans." --Salah Abrahim , who lives in the district of Baghdad populated primarily by Shia Muslims.

"Who are these people? Where do they come from? Put yourself in my place, who would you vote for?" --Yusrah Naif, a 52-year-old Shiite in Baghdad.

"I have no idea who these people are. We are all religious in Iraq but we want an honest, educated leader, not someone crying about what happened 2,000 years ago." --Adil Guzzaz, 47, a Shiite who doesn't know any of the Iraqi candidates.

"It's a bit discouraging to watch the current government so uncoordinated. It's like they don't even communicate with each other. It's also somewhat disturbing to know that they can't seem to decide who is a criminal and who isn't. Isn't there some 'idiots guide to being a good Vichy government'?" -- 'Riverbend', Baghdad girl.

By Blogger posted 31 January 05

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Unlawful Parole Considerations

Probation and Parole Officers fulfill an important role within the criminal justice system by supervising, managing and providing assistance to offenders on conditional liberty?

To: NSW Parole Board, Department of Corrective Services and the Carr Government

The NSW Parole Board and the Department of Corrective Services are acting in breach of sentencing law principles, and managing offenders contrary to Judge imposed sentences.

The Department of Corrective Services is managing the writer as a sex offender even though I am not lawfully serving a sentence for a sex related offence. I have been refused release to parole since April 2003 because I have not admitted guilt to a sexual offence that the sentence for expired in April 2000.

In 1993 I was sentenced to a set of 7 year fixed term of imprisonment for a sexual assault of a 19 year-old female. That sentence was imposed from 1 May 1993 and expired on 30 April 2000. I was further sentenced to a set of 3 year minimum terms of imprisonment with additional terms of 4 years for robbery whilst armed offences. That sentence was imposed from 30 April 2000 and to expire on 30 April 2007. The two sets of sentences are cumulative and the sole non-parole period was imposed for the robbery whilst armed offences.

Pursuant to a policy of the Department of Corrective Services I am being managed as a sex offender and being refused parole based on the sexual offence long after such a sentence has expired. In all parole considerations thus far not once has the Parole Board referred to the robbery whilst armed offences even though the sole parole period was imposed for such offences.

The department policy that permits this is the 'Guidelines for the Protection of Victims of Abuse and the Management of Sex Offenders'. This policy conflicts with sentencing law principles and with imposed sentences. The sentencing laws do not contain any provisions to hold offenders accountable for an offence after such a sentence has expired. The said departmental policy is in breach of sentencing law principles and could be seen to override statute law because it does hold people accountable for an offence after such a sentence has expired.

The totality principle as expressed by the Sentencing Judge was that I to serve lengthy time in prison, i.e. at lest 10 years. As of 30 April 2005 I've been in prison for 12 years. Regardless of the totality principal the sentence for the sexual offence was a fixed term and expired in April 2000. My guilt or innocence for the sexual offence is irrelevant because the sentence for that offence has long expired. I am not a repeat offender in the sense that I have no priors for sexual or robbery type offences.

The Carr Government should ensure that the Parole Board and the Department of Corrective Services acts in accordance with sentencing law principles and with imposed sentences.

The Carr Government has been contacted in this regard a number of occasions but the Premier and the Minister for Justice, Mr Carr and The Hon J Hatzistergos respectively, are not interested and refuse to take any action.

I have advised the Parole Board and the Carr Government that if the Parole Board continues to consider the sexual offence relevant for a parole order that I will refuse parole if granted on principle and will therefore be released with no parole or supervision after 14 years at the expiry of the full term.

I argue that it cannot be in the public's best interest to have offenders released at the expiry of their full terms with no parole supervision, especially long-term inmates like myself. On the other hand it is in the public's interest to release offenders under parole supervision regardless of the type of offence and whether or not the offender has admitted guilt.

The Parole Board is in breach of their Duty-of-Care owed to the public by not ensuring supervised release of offender, such as myself. Because of the Car Government's non-action in this case the Government seems to support and sanction the Parole Board's unlawful actions and failures to the public's duty-of-Care.

The Parole Board and the Carr Government must be held to account and must answer for this situation.

By John D. McCallum 31 January 05

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To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe."-- Marilyn vos Savant.

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Prisons accused of ignoring age trend
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Seminar to probe motives behind cat killings?

Parent Effectiveness Training (P.E.T.) and Leader Effectiveness Training (L.E.T.)

The RSPCA plans to examine the reasons why people commit cruelty to animals, in the wake of 'recent incidents' around Australia.

Even though people have been cruel to animals and have killed animals since the earliest times.

The latest occurred in Adelaide yesterday in which a cat was reportedly dragged behind a car in the southern suburbs says, Howard's ABC Online.

But I wonder if all the media attention has motivated the perpetrators of these violent acts to act out their frustrations on more and more cats?

Or if the media attention has motivated more media attention? To find more incidents and reports of more and more abused cats?

Police say they have good information on the type of car used but no one has been charged as yet.

I can't wait until they find these people can you?

Several witnesses reported seeing the cat being dragged for up to an hour by a white Tarago yesterday afternoon.

Police senior Constable Mick Abbott says investigators have a registration number for the vehicle suspected to be involved and the driver will face charges regardless.

But either these incidents have been noticed more now, because they are being reported more often? Or they have just been a problem now, so they are being reported more often? Or someone has an agenda to report them more often? And it makes me wonder!

Could it be because someone, somewhere, decided that as many reason that can be found to lock people up using the 'Criminal Punishment System' ought to be found and new laws need to be drafted because we as a society have an unlimited capacity to lock people up? Or is it because of the latest cat craze?

RSPCA spokeswoman Emily Vatkovich says it will be impossible to do an autopsy on the cat and the society is now assuming the cat was dead before it was dragged behind the car.

But she says it is still a shocking act nevertheless.

"Regardless of whether this cat was alive or dead when it was dragged along by the car, I think we should all be extremely concerned that people are going to these lengths to inflict such injuries on an animal and it is just an extremely brutal act of cruelty," she said.

Noone would disagree with that and of course we are extremely concerned for the cat, dead or alive however, not concerned as much as Bob Carr and the corporate media seem to be, because animal cruelty has been going on ever since the year dot.

When I was a child I seen adults place cats under milk crates and throw bungers at them to scare them away from the neighbourhood.

I've seen people take them far away from home and dump them just to get rid of them.

Parents have told me their children were the perpetrators of this crime too. Children who dumped cats or kittens into a drain or down the toilet and continued to flush it like a game because they had no idea they were being cruel.

But what concerns me is the intimation that new legislation should be drawn up to criminalise offenders using the police force. And or larger penalties for people who have offended against an animal, rather than a stern warning, fines and or education that can give them some guidance. Because many of these instances will be young adults learning about their environment opposed to a deliberate criminal act.

You can't blame children or youth for how they are being raised but you can raise parents that can raise children and pets better. Of course it takes a little financial incentive like 'Parent Effectiveness Training' that acronym incidentally stands for P.E.T. get it? That way not only do you protect pets but people too. It goes without saying so why am I saying it? I know, because we need a seminar to work it out? Why didn't I think of that?

If the intention is to learn more about the people/animal relationships in relation to crime in the community or domestic violence that's okay, but if what is really behind this seminar is new laws to validate and criminalise people based on what they have done to an animal in relation to what they could or might do to a human being, then I can certainly point you to the fact that this is nothing new.

So why now? And why not just spend more money ensuring parents get training so that kids get trained and don't go on and mistreat anything or anyone else. because they're bored or cannot think of a useful way to use their energy? Or even if they know, that using their energy usefully, serves a better purpose in life.

Ms Vatkovich says the society will use a seminar next month to examine the type of person who commits such an act.

"The main cause of the seminar is actually to look into people that abuse animals and then actually go on to act violently towards humans," she said.

"So I think it's a really important issue that needs more research done into it."

Then why was that not an important issue before?

Some animals just like children get hurt because they are disobedient and their carer has no idea about how to reach and agreement with the subservient they care for, whether that be a small child, animal or insect

Nurture Nature

Just like cradling a baby in your arms, a cradle swings below us nurturing us, if we care for all living things in our wonderful Universe.

Educate don't incarcerate!

During the witch-burning era of the 17th century, witches' cats were put into baskets and burned alongside the witches not that that should have anything to do with the current mistreatment of cats. History proves that cats have been mistreated by the human race.

So this is no special event even though it has maintained it's headlines in the mainstream media and that all of a sudden Bob Carr needs to make new laws to lock up people or for longer.

Since the first cat story recently was put on the media spot light and now every cat that has every been found makes the headlines, does that mean we need new legislation to incarcerate citizens who have been cruel to a cat?

By Wicked Witch 29 January 05

Related:

The Cat and the Law

FROM the epoch of the cat's godhood down to the modern moment laws have been passed to protect the cat, laws which have demanded that man treat the cat in such and such a fashion.

Egyptians cat-killers were punished by death. Diodorus writes of a brave Roman soldier who was the victim of this law.

It is interesting to compare this extreme measure with the old English common law which held both cats and dogs as "no property, being base by nature," but it is also well to remember that at one time in England larceny was punished by the death penalty.

If a cat had been considered property the theft of a puss would have led the thief to the block or the scaffold. The English "Rule of Nuns" issued in the early thirteenth century, forbade the holy women to keep any beast but a cat. A canon of a date nearly a hundred years earlier forbade nuns, even abbesses, from wearing costlier skins than those of lambs and cats.

The Welsh laws concerning domestic lions were formulated in the tenth century. In 1818 a decree was issued at Ypres in Flanders forbidding the throwing of pussies from high towers in commemoration of a Christmas Spectacle. And today the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals endeavours to make the punishment fit the crime for anyone who maliciously mistreats a cat.

OHIO: Appeals court tosses death sentence for U.S.-British citizen

In Cincinnati, a federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out the conviction and death sentence of a man with dual U.S.-British citizenship who was convicted of killing a 2-year-old girl by starting a fire in his ex-girlfriend's apartment.

A 3-judge panel of 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Kenneth T. Richey received incompetent legal counsel and ordered the state of Ohio to retry him within 90 days or release him.

Richey, who always maintained his innocence, was convicted of killing Cynthia Collins, who died in 1986 in a fire at her mother's apartment in the northwest Ohio town of Columbus Grove. Prosecutors said Richey intended to kill his ex girlfriend but ended up killing the child.

The case received wide attention in Great Britain, where filmmakers produced two documentaries questioning Richey's guilt. British citizens and politicians have written thousands of letters to news organizations and government offices to protest his conviction.

Amnesty International sought a new trial for Richey, and one member of Britain's Parliament visited Richey on death row in Mansfield last year and asked Gov. Bob Taft to review the case.

Kim Norris, spokeswoman for Attorney General Jim Petro, said lawyers were reviewing the ruling to determine whether to appeal. State attorneys could ask the full circuit court or the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case.

Did you know?

"Had Kenny accepted any of the plea-bargains he was offered, he would have been released well in time to have celebrated the new millenium in freedom.

The only reason not to, is that he won't admit to something he didn't do - he is stubborn in that respect." KRC - The Official Kenny Richey Campaign

By Kay Lee posted 28 January 05

Shared by Kay Lee kaylee1@charter.net

Related:

THE INNOCENT SCOT ON DEATH ROW IS ALMOST FREE
If you haven't heard about it yet, you will. There's a celebration in the air: Kenny is an innocent man living on death row in an Ohio prison and the authorities may finally acknowledge what we've known all along.

EXPENSES FOR STATE-ASSISTED SUICIDE EXCEEDS $33,000.00
To prepare for Connecticut's first state-sanctioned killing in 45 years, the state Department of Corrections has spent more than US$33,000 on such items as training personnel, drugs (poison), intravenous catheters and tubing, portable restrooms, mobile offices, lighting and curtains for the witness observation room.

Child Offenders on Death Row
Recent Australian studies of alcohol and cannabis use show that girls are increasingly inclined to behave boldly. But boys out number the girls, two to one; and three to one in the juvenile justice system, mortality figures, speeding infringements and car crash statistics.

US death row numbers don't change policy?
The number of prisoners on death row in the United States appears to be falling, mostly credited to a single Governor who commuted the sentences of all the death row prisoners in his state.

Despite Drop in Crime, an Increase in Inmates
US: The number of inmates in state and federal prisons rose 2.1 percent last year, even as violent crime and property crime fell, according to a study by the Justice Department released yesterday.

How Denying the Vote to Ex-Offenders Undermines Democracy
For starters, hundreds of thousands of people who are still eligible to vote will not do so this year because they will be locked up in local jails, awaiting processing or trials for minor offenses.

DNA Evidence of Bipartisanship
Last week the U.S. Congress passed the Justice for All Act, which includes provisions of the Innocence Protection Act. As of this posting, the legislation has not yet been signed by President Bush. Attached is an analysis of the legislation prepared by the Justice Project.

Our Two Priority Bills sent to White House
US: The 8th National CURE Convention last June lobbied on Capitol Hill the Innocence Protection Act in the Senate and the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 in the House. On Sunday, October 10th, Congress passed both bills and sent them to the President to be signed.

THE LAW IS AN ASS:
US: A Californian man who beheaded a german shepherd dog he had named after his girlfriend, has been sentenced to 25 years to life under California's three-strikes law.

EXTRADITION ACT FLUSHED DOWN THE TOILET
A long-standing convention not to extradite people out of Australia if they face the death penalty has been abandoned.

BIRTHDAY PROTEST BACKS INNOCENT MAN ON DEATH ROW:
Kids from 3 to 83 years old beat candy labeled "Justice" out of a big Texas-shaped piqata on Aug. 1 as dozens gathered in the Houston City Hall Park to celebrate the 30th birthday of Nanon Williams, an innocent person on Texas death row.

THE LAND OF BIBLES, GUNS, PATRIOTS AND THE 'WORLD ROLE MODEL' FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: The state of Alabama, USA, executed James Barney Hubbard. So what? ... you might say ... America executes prisoners almost every week!

Appealing a Death Sentence Based on Future Danger USA-HOUSTON, June 9 - Texas juries in capital cases must make a prediction. They may impose a death sentence only if they find that the defendant will probably commit more violent acts.

Forensics? In proposing a new death penalty for Massachusetts last month, Governor Mitt Romney offered firm assurance that no innocent people would be executed: Convictions, he said, will be based on science.

Silencing the Cells: Mass Incarceration and Legal Repression in U.S. Prisons People without a voice are not people in any meaningful sense of the word. Silenced people cannot express their ideas; they can neither consent nor protest. They are reduced to being pawns in the schemes of the powerful, mendicants who must accept whatever is imposed upon them. In order to keep people in a state of subjugation, silencing their voices is essential. Nowhere is this clearer than in U.S. prisons.

U.N. Group Seeks End To Executions The United States, Japan, China, India and Muslim nations including Saudi Arabia opposed the resolution. Burkina Faso, Cuba, Guatemala, South Korea and Sri Lanka abstained.

US: Execution Dear Friends, this is so sad especially for our dear friend, San Nguyen. San who lives in Oklahoma worked very hard with the rest of the Vietnamese community to stop Mr. Le's execution. You may remember San from being at CURE's First International Conference in New York City in 2001. San also plans to be at the 8th National Convention this June in Washington. Charlie

Please contact the Governor The Vietnamese-American Community, the ACLU, and many others want the March 30 execution of Huang Thanh Le commuted.

Cherie Blair attacks US over death penalty in Catholic paper Cherie Blair has renewed her attack on America's use of the death penalty. In a book review in the Catholic journal The Tablet, under her maiden name Cherie Booth, she says: "Capital cases are uniquely prone to error and thus call into question whether we can ever be really sure of obtaining the just result.

Death penalty: a lawyer sees the light The observation "Americans are from Mars and Europeans are from Venus" is illustrated by the two nations' differing reactions to the use of the death penalty as a legitimate punishment for murder.

OHIO: Judges join dissent on execution delay In Columbus, 5 federal appeals court judges say a convicted killer's request to delay his execution was illegally denied because 2 senior judges participated in the vote.

Stephen Romei: Death knell sounds for US capital law GEORGE Ryan gets my vote as Australian of the Year, even though he's the outgoing governor of the US state of Illinois. There's just no one I admire more right now, not even Greg's Kables Community News Newtwork..

Mexico Awaits Hague Ruling on Citizens on U.S. Death Row Sbaldo Torres, a convicted murderer on death row in Oklahoma, should have been dead by now, his appeals exhausted, his time up.

Jury Passes On Business Of Killing US: This drives the death penalty crowd in the legislature nuts. Yet another jury - another 12 men and women, tried and true, who had all attested to their belief in the death penalty - has refused to join in the killing business.

Ultimate Punishment Scott Turow has long juggled two careers‹that of a novelist and that of a lawyer. He wrote much of his first and best known legal thriller, Presumed Innocent, on the commuter train to and from work during the eight years he spent as an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago, and he has churned out another blockbuster every third year since joining the firm of Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal in 1986.

A Question of Innocence Rubin Carter: Day after day, week after week, I would sit in that filthy cell, seething. I was furious at everyone. At the two state witnesses who lied, at the police who put them up to it, at the prosecutor who sanctioned it, at the judge who allowed it, at the jury who accepted it, and at my own lawyer, for not being able to defeat it.

Amnesty steps up campaign to abolish death penalty Human rights watchdog Amnesty International is urging people around the world to pressure countries to abolish the death penalty.

'LAND OF THE FREE' SET TO EXECUTE TWO PRISONERS BY FIRING SQUAD: Wanted: Willing executioners for two convicted murderers. Must be psychologically sound and familiar with .30-calibre rifles. No victims' relatives need apply.

TEXAS EXECUTES 300th PRISONER Keith Clay was executed tonight, becoming the 300th prisoner in Texas to die by lethal injection since the rogue state resumed the death penalty 20 years ago.

AUSTRALIAN COALITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY " ... Our nation was built on a promise of life and liberty for all citizens. Guided by a deep respect for human dignity, our Founding Fathers worked to secure these rights for future generations, and today we continue to seek to fulfil their promise in our laws and our society.

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Please note the following article carefully.....it shows clearly the hateful, uncaring and anti-human rights attitude as reflected by the Governor of Texas (and most other elected Texas officials).

Bush rules out death sentence review US President George W Bush says has dismissed any chance of a review of America's system of capital punishment.

Amnesty urges Bush to shut death row Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged US President George W. Bush to take a "moral stand" and abolish the death penalty after the Illinois Governor dramatically emptied that state's death row.

USA - A NATION IN TURMOIL: As the year 2002 draws to a close, little if anything, has changed in the United States in regards to state-sanctioned killing. Various campaigns, calls for clemency, petitions, and international condemnation, have failed to humanize U.S. politicians.

Here come de Judge - Time to Leave [266]
There have always been examples of rulings and interpretations that have supported the saying "The law is an ass". This is increasingly the case, because even the best intentioned judges are now facing an avalanche of new technologies and social change. But, it is no good making excuses for the judiciary and continuing to accept their strange interpretations. We must recognise that not only judges but the whole legal system will struggle more and more. In the end the whole system will become a farce. This is the way empires end.

THE INNOCENT SCOT ON DEATH ROW IS ALMOST FREE

If you haven't heard about it yet, you will. There's a celebration in the air: Kenny is an innocent man living on death row in an Ohio prison and the authorities may finally acknowledge what we've known all along.

US: After all these years, he may finally be exonerated.

You can better appreciate the excitement we are all feeling if you realize that Karen and Kenny Richey have fought his sentence valiantly for something like 19 years: Word comes after all this time:

His conviction has been overturned!!! This is hopeful for every one of us, for all the injustice we struggle against, for the innocents and those being done wrong in this system - Take heed - There is hope!

Kenny and Karen Richey persevered and now the break has come! I'll be holding my breath for the next 90 days and then we can all celebrate freedom with them. Article follows... Kay Lee

The decision has come. Kenny's conviction has been overturned and the DA has 90 days to retry him. More news when I have it WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

By Kay Lee posted 28 January 05

Related:

EXPENSES FOR STATE-ASSISTED SUICIDE EXCEEDS $33,000.00
To prepare for Connecticut's first state-sanctioned killing in 45 years, the state Department of Corrections has spent more than US$33,000 on such items as training personnel, drugs (poison), intravenous catheters and tubing, portable restrooms, mobile offices, lighting and curtains for the witness observation room.

Child Offenders on Death Row
Recent Australian studies of alcohol and cannabis use show that girls are increasingly inclined to behave boldly. But boys out number the girls, two to one; and three to one in the juvenile justice system, mortality figures, speeding infringements and car crash statistics.

US death row numbers don't change policy?
The number of prisoners on death row in the United States appears to be falling, mostly credited to a single Governor who commuted the sentences of all the death row prisoners in his state.

Despite Drop in Crime, an Increase in Inmates
US: The number of inmates in state and federal prisons rose 2.1 percent last year, even as violent crime and property crime fell, according to a study by the Justice Department released yesterday.

How Denying the Vote to Ex-Offenders Undermines Democracy
For starters, hundreds of thousands of people who are still eligible to vote will not do so this year because they will be locked up in local jails, awaiting processing or trials for minor offenses.

DNA Evidence of Bipartisanship
Last week the U.S. Congress passed the Justice for All Act, which includes provisions of the Innocence Protection Act. As of this posting, the legislation has not yet been signed by President Bush. Attached is an analysis of the legislation prepared by the Justice Project.

Our Two Priority Bills sent to White House
US: The 8th National CURE Convention last June lobbied on Capitol Hill the Innocence Protection Act in the Senate and the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 in the House. On Sunday, October 10th, Congress passed both bills and sent them to the President to be signed.

THE LAW IS AN ASS:
US: A Californian man who beheaded a german shepherd dog he had named after his girlfriend, has been sentenced to 25 years to life under California's three-strikes law.

EXTRADITION ACT FLUSHED DOWN THE TOILET
A long-standing convention not to extradite people out of Australia if they face the death penalty has been abandoned.

BIRTHDAY PROTEST BACKS INNOCENT MAN ON DEATH ROW:
Kids from 3 to 83 years old beat candy labeled "Justice" out of a big Texas-shaped piqata on Aug. 1 as dozens gathered in the Houston City Hall Park to celebrate the 30th birthday of Nanon Williams, an innocent person on Texas death row.

THE LAND OF BIBLES, GUNS, PATRIOTS AND THE 'WORLD ROLE MODEL' FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: The state of Alabama, USA, executed James Barney Hubbard. So what? ... you might say ... America executes prisoners almost every week!

Appealing a Death Sentence Based on Future Danger USA-HOUSTON, June 9 - Texas juries in capital cases must make a prediction. They may impose a death sentence only if they find that the defendant will probably commit more violent acts.

Forensics? In proposing a new death penalty for Massachusetts last month, Governor Mitt Romney offered firm assurance that no innocent people would be executed: Convictions, he said, will be based on science.

Silencing the Cells: Mass Incarceration and Legal Repression in U.S. Prisons People without a voice are not people in any meaningful sense of the word. Silenced people cannot express their ideas; they can neither consent nor protest. They are reduced to being pawns in the schemes of the powerful, mendicants who must accept whatever is imposed upon them. In order to keep people in a state of subjugation, silencing their voices is essential. Nowhere is this clearer than in U.S. prisons.

U.N. Group Seeks End To Executions The United States, Japan, China, India and Muslim nations including Saudi Arabia opposed the resolution. Burkina Faso, Cuba, Guatemala, South Korea and Sri Lanka abstained.

US: Execution Dear Friends, this is so sad especially for our dear friend, San Nguyen. San who lives in Oklahoma worked very hard with the rest of the Vietnamese community to stop Mr. Le's execution. You may remember San from being at CURE's First International Conference in New York City in 2001. San also plans to be at the 8th National Convention this June in Washington. Charlie

Please contact the Governor The Vietnamese-American Community, the ACLU, and many others want the March 30 execution of Huang Thanh Le commuted.

Cherie Blair attacks US over death penalty in Catholic paper Cherie Blair has renewed her attack on America's use of the death penalty. In a book review in the Catholic journal The Tablet, under her maiden name Cherie Booth, she says: "Capital cases are uniquely prone to error and thus call into question whether we can ever be really sure of obtaining the just result.

Death penalty: a lawyer sees the light The observation "Americans are from Mars and Europeans are from Venus" is illustrated by the two nations' differing reactions to the use of the death penalty as a legitimate punishment for murder.

OHIO: Judges join dissent on execution delay In Columbus, 5 federal appeals court judges say a convicted killer's request to delay his execution was illegally denied because 2 senior judges participated in the vote.

Stephen Romei: Death knell sounds for US capital law GEORGE Ryan gets my vote as Australian of the Year, even though he's the outgoing governor of the US state of Illinois. There's just no one I admire more right now, not even Greg's Kables Community News Newtwork..

Mexico Awaits Hague Ruling on Citizens on U.S. Death Row Sbaldo Torres, a convicted murderer on death row in Oklahoma, should have been dead by now, his appeals exhausted, his time up.

Jury Passes On Business Of Killing US: This drives the death penalty crowd in the legislature nuts. Yet another jury - another 12 men and women, tried and true, who had all attested to their belief in the death penalty - has refused to join in the killing business.

Ultimate Punishment Scott Turow has long juggled two careers‹that of a novelist and that of a lawyer. He wrote much of his first and best known legal thriller, Presumed Innocent, on the commuter train to and from work during the eight years he spent as an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago, and he has churned out another blockbuster every third year since joining the firm of Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal in 1986.

A Question of Innocence Rubin Carter: Day after day, week after week, I would sit in that filthy cell, seething. I was furious at everyone. At the two state witnesses who lied, at the police who put them up to it, at the prosecutor who sanctioned it, at the judge who allowed it, at the jury who accepted it, and at my own lawyer, for not being able to defeat it.

Amnesty steps up campaign to abolish death penalty Human rights watchdog Amnesty International is urging people around the world to pressure countries to abolish the death penalty.

'LAND OF THE FREE' SET TO EXECUTE TWO PRISONERS BY FIRING SQUAD: Wanted: Willing executioners for two convicted murderers. Must be psychologically sound and familiar with .30-calibre rifles. No victims' relatives need apply.

TEXAS EXECUTES 300th PRISONER Keith Clay was executed tonight, becoming the 300th prisoner in Texas to die by lethal injection since the rogue state resumed the death penalty 20 years ago.

AUSTRALIAN COALITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY " ... Our nation was built on a promise of life and liberty for all citizens. Guided by a deep respect for human dignity, our Founding Fathers worked to secure these rights for future generations, and today we continue to seek to fulfil their promise in our laws and our society.

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Please note the following article carefully.....it shows clearly the hateful, uncaring and anti-human rights attitude as reflected by the Governor of Texas (and most other elected Texas officials).

Bush rules out death sentence review US President George W Bush says has dismissed any chance of a review of America's system of capital punishment.

Amnesty urges Bush to shut death row Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged US President George W. Bush to take a "moral stand" and abolish the death penalty after the Illinois Governor dramatically emptied that state's death row.

USA - A NATION IN TURMOIL: As the year 2002 draws to a close, little if anything, has changed in the United States in regards to state-sanctioned killing. Various campaigns, calls for clemency, petitions, and international condemnation, have failed to humanize U.S. politicians.

Here come de Judge - Time to Leave [266]
There have always been examples of rulings and interpretations that have supported the saying "The law is an ass". This is increasingly the case, because even the best intentioned judges are now facing an avalanche of new technologies and social change. But, it is no good making excuses for the judiciary and continuing to accept their strange interpretations. We must recognise that not only judges but the whole legal system will struggle more and more. In the end the whole system will become a farce. This is the way empires end.

US Challenges of Parole Denials rejected

The California Supreme Court decided Monday to limit sharply the ability of inmates to challenge parole denials, ruling that the parole board has the right to keep a convict in prison simply because of the nature of the crime that sent him there.

The state Board of Prison Terms, which has a history of seldom granting parole, has wide flexibility to deny release to convicted criminals even if they have been model inmates deemed not dangerous by mental health officials, the 4-3 decision said. The ruling is expected to keep behind bars thousands of inmates who are eligible for parole.

Monday's ruling came in the case of John A. Dannenberg, 64, who was convicted of the second-degree murder of his wife in 1985 and sentenced to a term of 15 years to life. Dannenberg has a spotless prison record and favorable psychological evaluations, and his two adult children support his release.

In 1999, the parole board rejected his third request for parole, saying he had committed the murder "in an especially cruel or callous manner" and had "a very trivial" motive to kill. Dannenberg then appealed, saying his record since he was put in prison should have made him eligible for release.

A trial court and Court of Appeal both sided with him. But the Supreme Court disagreed. Even though Dannenberg's record has been clean, the board had the right to deny parole based solely on the nature of his crime, the majority said.

The board "may protect public safety in each discrete case by considering the dangerous implications of a life-maximum prisoner's crime individually," Justice Marvin R. Baxter wrote for the majority.

In dissent, Justice Carlos R. Moreno said the ruling required "judicial rubber stamping" of parole-board decisions. "Failure to grant parole where parole is due wastes human lives, not to mention considerable tax dollars," Moreno wrote.

If an inmate is denied parole because of the nature of the crime, the board should be required at least to compare the gravity of the offense and the time served to other cases with the same conviction, he wrote.

The majority rejected that idea, saying it would be too burdensome.

To require the board to compare the inmate's crime and time served to that of other inmates with the same convictions would "contribute significantly to backlogs," Baxter wrote.

Dannenberg killed his wife, Linda, during a fight in their home in Los Gatos. The wealthy engineer had a stormy relationship with his wife, and she had received counseling for trying to harm herself and her children.

During an argument over a blocked bathtub drain, Dannenberg beat her with a pipe wrench. He claimed she first attacked him with a screwdriver while he was attempting to fix the drain.

Dannenberg told police that he passed out momentarily and woke up to find his wife slumped over the edge of the bathtub with her head in the water, where she had drowned. He called 911 and was quickly arrested.

Dannenberg has been behind bars in San Quentin for 18 years. While in prison, he fixed the facility's electrical wiring and volunteered with an inmate education advisory committee and a Jewish religious group for prisoners, the court said.

In upholding the parole board's decision, Baxter, joined by Chief Justice Ronald M. George and Justices Ming W. Chin and Janice Rogers Brown, said Dannenberg had "reacted with extreme and sustained violence to a domestic argument?. "

"Though he vehemently denied it, the evidence permitted an inference that, while the victim was helpless from her injuries, Dannenberg placed her head in the water, or at least left it there without assisting her until she was dead."

Moreno countered that a second-degree murder conviction always means that a defendant acted violently, cruelly and out of proportion to the provocation.

Moreover, he said, the board had "an incentive to give only pro-forma consideration" to parole because of the risk that the person could re-offend and the parole board be blamed. [Yet the risk of re-offending for a domestic crime is at the very bottom of the range.]

"Dannenberg's present record is not only unblemished in terms of disciplinary infractions, but showed many positive signs of contribution to the prison community in which he lived," wrote Moreno, whose opinion was signed by Justices Joyce L. Kennard and Kathryn Mickle Werdegar.

Over the last 13 years, the parole board has denied release to more than 95% of the eligible inmates who applied.

Even the few approved by the board have not all been released. California is one of three states that allows the governor to override parole recommendations.

So far, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has accepted about 36% of the board's parole recommendations. Former Gov. Gray Davis approved just 1.7%. His predecessor, Gov. Pete Wilson, approved 67% of the applications that came before him.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Susan Lee Duncan, who represented the state in the case, said the state Supreme Court had made it clear that the parole board has been acting properly.

"They don't have to consider whether this is more serious or less serious than any other offender's crime," Duncan said. "It is strictly a case-by-case consideration, comparing this man and this crime to public safety."

Kathleen Kahn, a lawyer who represented Dannenberg, said the ruling "ratifies" the board's behavior and "allows the board to be as frankly political as it wants to be."

"A few judges in a few counties have really stuck their necks out and said what the board has been doing is really a violation of the law," Kahn said.

"I think this opinion is written as a reprimand to those judges."

Tip Kindell, a spokesman for the Board of Prison Terms, said it was pleased that "our position was validated by the Supreme Court." [By the ruling class? The Supreme court has also approved Guantanamo Bay Cuba!]

By Maura Dolan posted 28 January 05

Related:

USA

New Strategies for Curbing Recidivism
US: State and federal lawmakers are finally realizing that controlling prison costs means controlling recidivism - by helping newly released people establish viable lives once they get out of jail.

Prison System Fails Women, Study Says
State policies designed for violent men make female offenders' rehabilitation difficult, an oversight panel finds. "If we fail to intervene effectively in the lives of these women and their children now, California will pay the cost for generations to come," said Commissioner Teddie Ray, chairwoman of the subcommittee that produced the report.

Restorative Justice and the Law
To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe."-- Marilyn vos Savant.

Restorative Justice Practices
Restorative Justice Practices of Native American, First Nation and Other Indigenous People of North America. This is part one in a series of articles about restorative justice practices of Native American, First Nation and other indigenous people of North America. The series is not intended to be all-inclusive, but rather a broad thematic overview. A related eForum article, "The Wet'suwet'en Unlocking Aboriginal Justice Program: Restorative Practices in British Columbia, Canada," can be read at:

The Long Trail to Apology
Native America: All manner of unusual things can happen in Washington in an election year, but few seem so refreshing as a proposed official apology from the federal government to American Indians - the first ever - for the "violence, maltreatment and neglect" inflicted upon the tribes for centuries.

England and Wales

Winning goals: Rethinking Crime and Punishment
I would reallocate resources within the prison service budget to give a higher priority to rehabilitation, retraining for future employment, and an improvement in literacy standards. During my own prison journey I was struck by the astoundingly high levels of illiteracy among prisoners. Tests show that about a third of all prisoners read and write at skill levels below those of 11-year-old schoolchildren.

London police may moor prison ship on Thames
UK: The London police are holding discussions about possibly mooring a prison ship on the River Thames in a bid to ease pressure on the spiralling prisoner population.

Prisons accused of ignoring age trend
UK: A 70-year-old prisoner who uses a wheelchair has to pay "unofficial helpers" six chocolate bars a week to help him get around and to collect his meals, according to an investigation by the chief inspector of prisons into the growing number of elderly inmates.

Australia

NSW Parole Board and the Politics of NSW Prisons
I refer to my complaints that the Parole Board and the Department of Corrective Services are acting contrary to imposed sentences and sentencing law principles.

Prison boom will prove a social bust
Hardened criminals are not filling NSW's prisons - the mentally ill and socially disadvantaged are, writes Eileen Baldry.

Crime and Punishment
Mark Findlay argues that the present psychological approach to prison programs is increasing the likelihood of re-offending and the threat to community safety.

Government justice not personal justice
Mr Brett Collins of Justice Action said, "Victims should be looked after properly by implementing restorative justice measures and victims should be compensated for their pain and suffering. " However prisoners are entitled to serve their sentences in peace and privacy as well."

Sentencing: Violent crime and practical outcomes
In addition introducing restorative justice programs giving the offender a chance to interact with the offended person if they wish and visa-versa. People are not "dogmatic" therefore should be given a second chance opposed to Life means Life!

Carr Govt dramatic increases in the NSW prisoner pop...
Following the opening of the 500 bed Kempsey prison, and a new 200-bed prison for women at Windsor the Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS) and community organisations specialising in the rehabilitation of prisoners, have expressed concern....

New Zealand

More jails will create more crime says expert
NZ: Once a world leader in restorative justice, New Zealand is regressing by locking more people up for longer, visiting expert Sir Charles Pollard says.

The way the world works: Abbott

Abbott rejects Indigenous health funding appeal?

Federal fascist Health Minister Tony Abbott has rejected a call by the Australian Medical Association (AMA) for a doubling in funding for Indigenous health.

A Productivity Commission report out today paints a bleak picture for Aboriginal Australians. The report says Aboriginal Australians are more likely to drop out of school, go to jail, smoke and live in poverty.

And I might add, more likely to end up in jail or die in custody? Bleak indeed! And I'm sure that the Indigenous people could add a lot more to that list of problems in their sometimes isolated communities.

Abbott says there will be an increase in funding in the next Budget, but he says the Government cannot double its contribution.

"I don't think it's realistic to suddenly more than double Indigenous health spending and think that you are suddenly going to get results which are twice as good," he said.

"I just don't think the world works that way."

But what if doubling the Indigenous health spending makes indigenous people equal to non-indigenous people? That means you were ripping them off! Is that really how the world works?

The West Australian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation said the major parties in WA need to focus on the continuing problem of chronic diseases in Indigenous communities.

How the world works for Indigenous people Mr Abbott?

The organisation said it has had to cancel vital research projects because its state funding has been cut by almost $500,000.

Spokeswoman Vanessa Davies says the organisation wants a pledge that adequate funds will be restored.

"What happens is that some of the priorities and strategic directions for Aboriginal health fall along the wayside - there's no mechanism there or limited mechanism for all of the AMSs to get together to be speaking with Government about setting and establishing those sorts of priorities," she said.

By Sorry 28 January 05

QUESTION: HOW MUCH MONEY DID HOWARD SPEND IN THE ILLEGAL AND DEGRADING WAR ON IRAQ?

Hill primed for war!
Australian Caretaker Defence Minister Robert Hill has announced a multi-million dollar upgrade of the Pearce Air Force base in Western Australia. Hill says $87 million would be spent on a major upgrade of the base, which is Australia's main flying training facility.

Defence people need to vote for the Greens
Caretaker Prime Minister John Howard will today unveil a plan to step up the fight against terrorism in the region, using specialist teams of Australian Federal Police (AFP) that could be sent to work in neighbouring countries.

Auditor Generals damning defence report
The Defence Department computer system upgrade has cost Australia tens of millions of dollars in a gigantic bungle, according to the Federal Opposition. The Commonwealth auditor-general has issued a damning report into the project.

Troop deployment not a deepening of effort: Hill
Deploying an extra 30 troops to Iraq was not a deepening of Australia's involvement because they were being sent to protect those already there, Defence Minister Robert Hill said yesterday.

Indonesian Election: Australia $48 Million?
Australian Payoff Call to Arms Bali Bombing Indonesia? Stated as a given for an anti-terrorism initiative? But it could have just as easily have been a payment for the Bali Bombings - 1012 Call to Arms.

Is that how the world really works?

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Govt accused of isolating Indigenous public servants
A national reconciliation group says the federal Government's main-streaming of Indigenous services into government departments will continue to isolate Aboriginal public servants.

Vanstone defends asking Aborigines to wash for fuel
The Federal Government has defended its offer to provide a remote Indigenous community with petrol bowsers and new health programs, if it meets conditions including ensuring children shower every day.

Clark crashes Indigenous affairs ministers' meeting
Aboriginal leader Geoff Clark says he gatecrashed a meeting of federal and state Aboriginal affairs ministers today to highlight the plight of Aboriginal people.

Long says journey far from over
Michael Long has emerged from a meeting with the Prime Minister in Canberra saying it is still the beginning of his journey.

Second autopsy to delay Palm Island funeral
A spokesman for the Palm Island community in north Queensland says the funeral for a man who died in police custody may be another two weeks away.

Indigenous welfare plan breach race act!!!!
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) has issued a warning about the Federal Government's plan to link Aboriginal welfare to behavioural change.

HoWARd's 'attitude' to Aboriginal welfare racist
The Federal Government says it is still considering a radical plan to rebuild the Aboriginal welfare system, which could make financial assistance dependent on behavioural change?

UN rates Indigenous health poorly
The Australian Nursing Federation says the United Nations has rated Indigenous Australians as having the second worst quality of life in the world after China.

Poverty cycle must be addressed: Ridgeway
The Democrats' Aden Ridgeway says Prime Minister John Howard should stop beating up on people who are on welfare, and focus on solving the national Indigenous unemployment rate.

Whitewash over Hickey's death
The New South Wales coroner has cleared police of any responsibility for the death of Aboriginal teenager Thomas 'TJ' Hickey.

"MESSAGE STICK" NEWSLETTER:
1. ATSIC abolition: the story so far. The last few months have seen both major parties buying into Indigenous Affairs in destructive and politically opportunistic ways. First the ALP and then the Government announced they would abolish ATSIC, but now the decision has been referred to a Senate Committee so the full implications of the Government's proposal can be examined. For more information on the Senate Inquiry into Indigenous Administration call 02 6277 3419 or go to:

AMA calls for extra health funding for Aborigines
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is asking for an extra $450 million a year to be spent on the health needs of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders.

Labor to request Senate inquiry into ATSIC's future
The Federal Opposition has announced it will call for a Senate inquiry into the Government's plan to abolish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC).

Reconciliation dreaming
Djerrkura had witnessed the collapse of ATSIC, which he led from 1996 to 1999, with sadness. Despite the peak indigenous organisation's flaws, which he did not deny, its abolition, he said, had been done in "the classic imperial fashion, without negotiation, without understanding and with little empathy". He noted that as early as December 2001 he had called on his successor Geoff Clark to resign for the good of the organisation. But he reserved his harshest words for John Howard.

Amnesty sees lack of progress on reconciliation
Amnesty International says the Federal Government must be held accountable for its commitments to Indigenous services.

The bone has been pointed at Howard
A Queensland Indigenous leader says an ancient Aboriginal curse placed on Prime Minister John Howard is no laughing matter and could even have deadly consequences.

Indigenous Social Justice Association Djadi Dugarang
INDIGENOUS EMPLOYMENT. Part 1

Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research: Aboriginal Crime
In 2001 more than forty percent of the Aboriginal male population aged 20-24 in NSW appeared before a NSW court charged with a criminal offence. One in ten Aboriginal males in NSW aged 20-24 received a prison sentence.

Inquiry told reforms will decimate Indigenous education
A Senate inquiry has been told the Federal Government's proposed higher education reforms will decimate education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. The National Indigenous Postgraduate Association Aboriginal Corporation says Indigenous students will be the hardest hit by increases in student fees, interest on postgraduate loans and attacks on student representation.