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Salient. Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 42 No. 4. March 19 1979

From the Courts

From the Courts

Photo of the outside of a building

This column recommences a tradition that used to thrive in Salient in days gone by: court reporting. Not your formulaic give-nothing-away little articles that appear in the daily press; not your equally formulaic tell-it-all-sensationalism gracing the pages of Truth. Salient's court reporting will focus on the context of some of the "justice" that is handed down, raising questions that the law, in all its blind wisdom, is supposedly bound to ignore.

Last week the petrol scare hit the Magistrates Court. An 18 year old youth was chosen to highlight its seriousness. The magistrate, Mr Kerr, told the youth that stealing petrol was a particularly nasty crime considering the present crisis. The Court would make an example of him in order to deter other potential offenders. The fine was $100, with $10 costs. The value of the the petrol stolen was 50c.

The youth in question is unemployed. With a benefit of $37.50 a week, he will clearly find the fine outside the scope of his income. Unemployment is not the fault of those unable to find jobs, and there are forms of punishment available for those without a proper income. Periodic detention seems more appropriate in this case, especially considering the petty nature of the offence.

Heavy financial penalties for the unemployed figured again last week when a 23 year old man appeared on a charge of possessing cannabis. How a person with the unemployment benefit as sole income is expected to pay $150 plus $10 costs is a hard question to answer. However the magistrate, the same Mr Kerr, considered it a just penalty.

Funny or Absurd?

The week also featured the arrest and conviction of a man for being drunk and disorderly in a public place. Nothing unusual about that, except that the man's "disorder-liness" consisted of talking to an imaginary friend and being pestered by an equally imaginary dog. The magistrate told him to watch his drinking. The rest of us better watch who we're talking to. They might just turn out to be policemen disguised as imaginary friends.

Chris Conway

Drawing of a man, woman and child