http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7136269.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7136269.stm)
Anyone else seen this? Probation and suspended sentences?! The judge saying that a ten year old girl "probably ageed to have sex with all of you". What the hell is going on????
How the hell can a ten-year old be judgeed to have consented to sex?
If she had been a 10 year old "white" girl then the sentence would have been very different.
This is a truly horrific verdict. All the most shocking as it was a female judge. (In an ideal world, that shouldn't make a difference)
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was spoken out against it.... it's a time for action.
QuoteJudge Bradley later defended her sentencing, telling The Australian that the sentences were "appropriate" because they were the penalties sought by the prosecution.
Lock the judge, the prosecutor and the rapists up together!
words fail me on this one, but how did it take from October to now to come out? was it because it wasn't a white child?
where the rapists Aborigines?
Queensland Prime Minister has ordered a review of all cases that this Judge has handled for the last two years - this case really does beggar belief >:(
Quote from: Square Ball on December 10, 2007, 09:55:39 PM
words fail me on this one, but how did it take from october to now to come out? was it because it wasnt a white child?
The perpetrators were Aborigines too
QuoteThe offenders came from some of the most powerful and prominent Aboriginal families in Cape York, while the victim's family had a lower status, The Australian reported.
A case of a small town trying (and failing, thankfully) to close ranks behind their favourite jocks (cf death of Brian Murphy)
This story breaks my heart and diminishes my faith in humanity.
How can these judges mete out these mickey mouse sentences and still have a job and who is there to protect the child. For me the whole lot of them should be put up against a wall and shot, and that includes the Judge.
Can judges be impeached in Australia?
Quote from: J70 on December 11, 2007, 03:31:24 AM
Can judges be impeached in Australia?
Dunno, I'd be surprised if there wasn't some mechanism to allow them to be given the boot and open to prosecution
This judge should be canned. As in any job, if one does not perform to the standards required they are reprimanded. Are judges, pardon the pun, a law unto themselves? The same situations arise in the north, some asshole outta touch p***k of a judge decides in their infinite wisdom to allow hoodin' scum back onto the streets!! Why why why? This really gets my blood boiling.
I just cannot belive this. How can this judge be fit for office if this is the type of decision they can reach. It just beggars belief. I am truly lost for words.
The prosecutor has been stood down - but some of the facts that are coming out now are outrageous. >:(
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/prosecutor-in-child-rape-case-stood-aside/2007/12/11/1197135463456.html (http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/prosecutor-in-child-rape-case-stood-aside/2007/12/11/1197135463456.html)
You would think the fact that she was female would influence her decision, but a couple of years back I had the misfortune of doing jury service on a case against a guy who indecently assaulted three girls in his locality. The jury was made up of six men and six women. Upon hearing the evidence I decided that this guy was guilty as charged and assumed the six women would agree and send him down the line. To my amazement, five of the women argued his case when we were debating what verdict to give. We had to give an undecided verdict, as foreman of the jury I had to get up and announce the verdict and the victims went into hysterics, he was found guilty in a subsequent court.
I think women are more suspicious of other woman as they know just how devious they can be.
Obviously this doesn't apply to a case where a 10 year old is involved - judge was clearly just a bitch.
Is there no precedent or situation where the Prime Minister or someone in the government can step in and retry this, becuase it will make the Australian justice system a worldwide laughing stock.
Had to have been bought off, could there be any other explanation ???
Quote from: tram on December 12, 2007, 01:27:07 AM
Regardless of what case the prosecution brought to court, I'd say the judge would have a slightly different view if the victim had been a young girl in her extended family let alone her own daughter or grand-daughter.
Which is why she couldn't adjudicate in such a case! But even if she thought differently in this case, would she have the right to impose a more serious sentence than that sought by the state? Does the law in Australia distinguish between minors in their mid to late-teens and ten-year olds? There obviously can't be a mandatory served prison term for those guilty of sex with minors, or she never would have suspended the sentence of the ones who were over-age.
It's all very odd how they managed to come to this decision - I was listening to Oz ABC News radio in the car this morning on the way in. A 10 year old legally cannot consent to sex, but they didn't say at what age a person could. I'd imagine a mid-late (I'm talking 16-18) teenager could legally consent to group sex if he/she so chooses but how difficult is that to control and prove consent in these sort of remote communities where child abuse is so rampant the feckin army have had to be sent in.
The gist of what I could gather from one p***k in Queensland is that there may have been some sort of unoffical policy of appeasing what is thought to be indigenous affairs and that any custodial sentence might have created more trouble in the general Cape York area, dem whitefellas took our land and now they won't let us get on with our culture, type of thing and 10 days of rioting ensue. Not that the person on the radio was willing to back any of this up and while he shamefully wasn't asked I was wondering aloud if he felt that gang rape of minors was indeed a cultural aspect of aboriginal life for thousands of years. I think the answer to that is fairly obvious.
Anyway, fairly big shit storm over about the whole thing and rightly so, I suspect and hope the Judge and the prosecutor will be looking for alternative employment