imprisonment

So many of the First Nations women in prison have been physically abused and/or have substance-abuse problems. One of the reasons these women make up such a disproportionate part of the prison population is that magistrates are required to follow sentencing guidelines; someone who has been arrested a certain number of times for, say, being drunk in public is required by such rules to spend time behind bars. Beyond that, Professor Baldry argues, some magistrates take an inappropriately paternalistic view that time in prison will be beneficial in blocking a woman's access to substances. [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]

Tony had never been in trouble with the law but briefly lost his cool in a racist road rage incident he regrets. He'd been under stress, working long hours to keep up with his mortgage. His wife had just had their first baby and was a full-time mum. If Tony went to jail he'd lose his job and his family would be left totally without support. The court gave him a suspended sentance, which allowed him just one more chance. Come September 2014 the option of a suspended sentence will cease to exist in Victoria. [node:read-more:link]

In the seven years the Bogimbah Creek mission was open, more than 100 First Nations people perished from illness and malnutrition - the result of appalling living conditions ... Now scientists from the University of the Sunshine Coast will try to return that knowledge to the island's K'Gari community, with the help of ground-penetrating radar.
In 1897, members of Butchulla clans on the island and on the mainland were rounded up and forced to live in the notorious Bogimbah Creek mission, under governments genocidal policy. [node:read-more:link]