Deaths in Custody

As elections loom in Victoria and New South Wales, their governments' focus on tough law-and-order policies and prison populations are beyond capacity, but reports state that the crime statistics in these states are falling. A lot of people will shrug their shoulders and wonder what the fuss is about. People who commit crimes go to prison and this makes the community safer. What they fail to consider is the very real downside: a bigger drain on the public purse and a bad social outcome. [node:read-more:link]

Unlike Australia where police investigate deaths in custody, Deborah Coles says the UK moved to independent investigations in 2004.

In a tragedy that has again ­invoked the shameful record of black deaths in custody in Western Australia, the Aboriginal woman — about to see a doctor for a suspected leg infection when arrested earlier this month — had begged to be hospitalised instead of kept in jail ... [node:read-more:link]

Ray Jackson's Media release covers the NSW Attorney-General, Brad Hazzard, as to his decision on the 33 year old death in custody of Eddie Murray, the brutal assault by Redfern police to Ms Kathryne Fisher when they forced their way into her home, and the related Kings Cross incident when the Kings Cross police had wilfully and recklessly fired six shots into the car, the Un-gagged Lex Wotten, and more to the Palm Island cover-ups and lack of justice and the successful Aboriginal Passport Ceremony in Sydney. [node:read-more:link]

In a tragedy that has again ­invoked the shameful record of black deaths in custody in Western Australia, the Aboriginal woman — about to see a doctor for a suspected leg infection when arrested earlier this month — had begged to be hospitalised instead of kept in jail.

This is another appalling example of a young person in her prime, murdered by a system where justice means disrespect, punishment and torture to harmless people and billions to the rich. [node:read-more:link]

Agnes Wotton

Lex Wotton

Cecily Wotton

Allyson Horn 24 June 2014 [node:read-more:link]

Australia is closely following the USA in its private prison policies, and the mainstream media continues to fuel an effort to lock up more of its disadvantaged citizens, especially First Nations people. Already, we are aware of the pressures put on the police to meet charge targets for misdemeanors. Here is a glimpse at where we are heading.

Fueled by racist right-wing politicians and the economic interests of some of the largest corporations on the planet, the prison-industrial complex looks set to continue expanding well into the future.