Posts by Katharine Moody
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to linger,
unless you’re a direct client of the legal firm
And that's what I'm saying - those folks who live in Whangarei and elsewhere locally that might be existing and/or potential future clients should boycott the firm in a very public way.
Sure, taking their business down for just "playing the game" by the rules sounds unfair to them, but such is the cost of putting right injustices and recovery is much easier for the privileged.
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to Ewan Morris,
So you don’t think anything can be solved by democratic processes and boycotts are the way to change things?
Once again, don't inflate my argument. I'm talking about an issue for which the democratic process has so far simply not worked. And I'm sick of seeing some of the poorest and most vulnerable members of our community persecuted for it - whilst some of the wealthiest and most privileged profit from it. And the madness and injustice of it all is funded by my taxpayer dollars whilst the kids of those jailed for such offenses struggle on the outside while their parents are incarcerated.
Don't conflate the issue with a counter-factual. It's a strawman technique and I'm not interested.
What approach to social change is a dead-end street? Using the power of consumerism to bring about change?
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
In the case of the Police….that is exactly the country we’re living in.
And we wonder why morale is so low in our police force.
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to Nick Russell,
But lawyers and courts can’t do that. Nor can the Police.
Quite right – and neither can any democratic process. But threaten the commercial arm which benefits from the folly – and you just watch how quickly those in power respond. Much of the power the public has lies in its spending power. If I lived in Whangarei I’d be outside the law firm with placards, and I’d get my grandchildren and children to stand there with me. And I don’t smoke pot but if people can get happy for free by growing a weed in their backyard, I’d say it would be a whole lot better, particularly for our impoverished communities, than a trip to the bottle store. Frankly, it's the alcohol manufacturer and distributor mates of the government that are likely the real reason we haven't seen decriminalisation here yet.
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to Nick Russell,
You want to shut down the criminal justice system?
Of course not – stop sensationalising what I’m saying. As Russell points out the Law Commission and two Parliamentary select committee inquiries say the law is an ass. I’m sick and tired of watching my fellow countrymen and woman and in particular, youth, persecuted by a system itself which is corrupt for its acceptance and participation in “the game”.
Anarchy is called for – we are ruining young folks and their parents lives and leaving the real criminal element (gangs and their associates) to profit on the sale of a largely harmless weed, if we compare it and its effects to that of alcohol in our society. Let’s get real. Keeping pot illegal helps our GDP – more prisons for the private sector to run, more work for the private sector law firms to capitalise on, more energy spent flying helicopters above the bush, more surveillance cameras purchased from the importers, etc etc.
How many kids lunches could we supply for all that?
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to Nick Russell,
maybe cases like this will actually help.
I agree they will - provided the right action is taken by civil society. And that action has nothing to do with scientific evidence or rational studies in criminology - that's all been treid and exhausted. So, attack the establishment at every periphery, I say. After all, I paid that Crown Prosecutor, that Judge, all the Courts staff, the Police with MY taxes - AND now I'm also paying to keep a community-minded Mum from a disadvantaged Far North District in jail. And I object strongly.
Put the legal firm out of commercial business - and perhaps some Government will sit up and listen. After all - these folks are more their constituency than the man/woman on the street in Kaikohe.
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to David Tong,
But it’s not the individual lawyers or judges who wrote the rules of the game.
It’s NOT a game for goodness sake. And until the legal profession stop referring to it as such, there really is no hope. That’s my whole point – the profession can no longer dehumanise the law – it’s why local protest of the firm sends a message, whether the prosecutor was simply "playing the game" by the rules or not. Real people, real lives.
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to David Tong,
To a lawyer with experience in criminal sentencing, the prosecutor’s statement is utterly mundane. It’s a completely routine game
Yes, a "routine game", I agree, and that's part of the problem as I see it.
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to Ana Simkiss,
Perhaps you can explain to us the Crown Prosecutor's statement that "deterrence is important"? Deterrence from what and important why?
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to nzlemming,
There seems to be much shit going on behind the scenes here.
Which is why ‘official channels’ just don’t cut the mustard.
PS Simon Bridges was a Crown Prosecutor - more than enough proof to me that we needn't put them all up on a Mr/Ms upstanding citizen, for-the-good-of-the-community pedestal.