Over a year ago there were calls for bail laws to be tightened. Courts were becoming a revolving door - with young offenders committing further crimes as they were repeatedly granted bail. As a result, the law changed and more offenders found themselves behind bars.
Now there are calls for bail laws to be eased. Juvenile detention centres are full and overflowing - and some of the blame for this can be sheeted home to the state government's decision to close and abandon the excellent Wollongong facility.
More offenders find themselves on remand because they either can not meet bail conditions - or they have breached bail by committing further offences - the very reason bail laws needed tightening in the first place
Perhaps this is a good time to look beyond bail and examine the sentencing system.
Four out of every five offenders who face court do not get a custodial sentence. In many cases, they spend more time on remand in a gaol than they would expect to receive as a sentence for the crime committed.
Those that exercise their right to plead innocent and defend themselves often do more gaol time than those who simply plead guilty - and have the matter settled on the spot.
What we have is an untenable bail/court/sentencing system that is neither dispensing justice or serving the public.
Time to go back to square one - have a long, hard look at the entire mess - and devise a system that actually works.
What we have at present is a hangover from a long past century. Time it was dragged kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century !
No comments:
Post a Comment