Andrew Lovett - seems to be a recurring theme

I’m not judging anyone on this, including the victim. A woman who I was helping, with an eight year old daughter ( no other family at all) gets put up in a very safe house for an extended period then helped to move to an area where virtually impossible to trace her and daughter, a fair amount of financial security, he goes to jail for domestic violence, comes out and now she’s back with him. I did suggest to her to think of her daughter but I still can’t pass judgment .
It is a bit more complex than the length of a sentence.

That is a ridiculous thing to say. Absolutely nothing is clear cut when it comes to Indigenous social problems. The magistrate works within the framework legislated by our elected politicians. Your reasoning is on a par with witch dunking; if they survive they are a witch, if not, they are OK.

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Did the Justin Murphy thing not come up on Blitz at the time? There seems to be quite a few who had no idea about it.

And for the record, Lovett and Murphy are pieces of ■■■■, who have both been lucky to avoid harsher penalties for their indiscretions.

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Yeah I’m pretty sure it did, I remember it. But seeing as most Essendon supporters still considered him Carlton scum and tried to forget he played for us, I don’t think many really cared about a news story involving him.

It probably wasn’t mentioned on the main football boards, and I know I seldom venture off them. There be dragons out there!

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The major problem with the current system is that it isn’t meant to be preventative, its meant to for acts already committed. I think pre-planned terrorism and murder are about the only preemptive laws on the books.

There is also the problem that jail is a significant cost, and has implications for individuals future employment and government support. You send someone to jail, and you wreck a life. Now, for what Bachus described it sounds very justified. But it is often a lot less clear cut.

We need some system that gives protections, without ruining the other person’s life. We made the (right) decision to take guns off people in Australia, but we need to recognise that is only part of it. Maybe compulsory counselling, or something else. Longer term better education? I really don’t know what the solution is.

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Anybody that puts a blow torch to somebody should be thrown away for a long time.

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A footballer is a ■■■■ human. Who would’ve thought.

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Did I miss something? Bacchus didn’t say anything about them being indigenous.

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In my case BB, the perpetrator was not indigenous.

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What are you on about? My reply was not to BF. Last I heard, A lovett is an Indigenous man.

You are correct about Magistrates being compelled in terms of mandatory sentences, for example, have a blood alcohol reading above 0.05 and you have to lose your licence where in the past they had some discretion.

But they still have discretion in most offences, and if you sit in a Magistrates Court, watch how hard they treat driving offences, and in my view treat violence with a large degree of leniency.

We had a visiting Magistrate in our town that was particularly harsh on DUI, and very harsh on those trying to get their licence back. We later learned that their child was killed in a car crash. I argued that they should not be on the bench in traffic cases, but there was no such requirement and it seems the bias of some Magistrates is well known.

I do not envy them their job, but I would be tougher on violence, especially for repeat offenders. I am told our jails are full of traffic offenders, fine evaders, white collar crims and those who commit minor crimes under the influence of drugs. Not suggesting letting them off, but I consider violence especially on women to be more serious.

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What am I on about? You went off tap at @Captain_Jack about indigenous social problems when all CJ was doing was talking about the magistrate involved in BF’s story. Which did not involve an indigenous perp.

Do you know how to have a forum conversation?

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I agree with you many Judges and Magistrate’s are far too lenient often they need to apply the law at its maximum not the minimum however, you probably know it depends on the numbers of beds available. Very often musical beds used to be played around suburban police stations waiting for space to become available at jails. Crime is on the rise and most jails around Victoria are full. Another way is home detention and granting early release parole. There are not many voters in jail. Consequently, the problems are rarely dealt with or solution focussed and resources are always short at ground zero level.

Problem definitely is bias, while working in the inside I can’t count how many people I worked with who copped a guy on the bench with a particular bias and ended up with an extended sentence and sometimes, some people almost ask for it. I think the Justice (ha, ha) System needs a complete overhaul and that includes some of the staff at the highest level. The bulk of prisoners in jails now are in for DUI, some kind of violence associated with drugs, alcohol or both, shop lifting, fraud, breaching parole conditions and a lot of mentally ill people, who should be somewhere else. Those in for very violent crimes - the long termers and paedophiles are very much in the minority.

Anyone who rehabilitates themselves in jail is a ■■■■■■ champion in my book. Because the odds are against it happening.

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Not so sure crime is on the rise. One of the problems with the juveniles was the length of time they were on on remand. Another problem identified by criminologists is the high level of illiteracy of prisoners compared to the general public. When you are an outsider in society it’s hard to get a job and you have low levels of verbal communication skills, there can be a resort to violence. That is if course different from the really violent psychopaths.
In the US the broken windows policy ( jail them for small crimes to deter them) and the three strikes of life for petty crimes has not worked. Obama pardoned a few of them caught up in that approach.

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OK. My mistake. I apologise to C Jack. I missed the point that he was not talking about A Lovett. Never the less, I stand by my comments on Indigenous social issues.

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How often do we (Australia) follow the model of the US? We parrot them and do something which doesn’t work for us? Juvenile Justice in this country is an absolute joke. Once a program of bribing prisoners to behave has been under taken, the plot is already lost. I’ve worked in Juvie Detention Centres and they are much harder to work with, than adults. More effort is required and certainly more than our system is prepared to give.

We also need more Government live in rehab centres for D and A and Drug offenders. Get mentally ill people out of jails into appropriate live in accommodation, where they can get appropriate attention which more often than not doesn’t happen inside.

Re-skilling and re-education is essential, good role models rather than do-gooders.

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Experience also of my family. One if them rated it as an achievement if he taught them to read and write.

Remember working at Malmsbury with a group of about 15 young blokes. Not one of the staff said a word to us about literacy. The manuals were handed out and I started to write on the whiteboard. We quickly realised all the guys had the manuals upside down. We read from the manuals upside down. None of these young men could read and could barely write.

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Knot eezy ta doo, teechin inkarsarated peepls two reid en rite.