Following an article – which I can’t find – titled ‘Retribution is not justice’ (Age 25/8/09) where criminal lawyer Greg Barns argued for ‘restorative justice’ as more constructive than ‘retributive justice’, these letters were published…

We can use jail and still do good. Why don’t we?

Letters

August 26, 2009

A CUSTODIAL sentence as retribution does not work. Greg Barns (Comment, 25/8) is right there.

However, a custodial sentence as treatment does work. The key is rehabilitation, not retribution.

Nearly all the violent attacks on police, or anyone else within arm’s length, are by young men who are angry, alienated and have poor impulse control, all of which are made much worse by alcohol. Simply putting them in jail is a waste of money. But we must do something quickly.

Epidemiologists, with good evidence, have shown that custodial sentencing for treatment will, in the long run, save 10 times the cost of the treatment itself.

Judges can retain discretion, as some could be managed with suspended sentences, provided treatment is available outside of jail.

Why don’t we do it? First, we don’t have

any such treatment facilities in the custodial system.

Second, politicians, reflecting the view of the taxpayers, are unwilling to spend large amounts of money for good-quality treatment of ”hooligans” when taxpayers themselves can’t get adequate medical care for their hips and their teeth. We need to bite the bullet, pay for the care they need or we’ll all get belted up.

Peter Evans, Hawthorn Balance is all wrong

WHILE mandatory sentencing, as proposed by the Police Association and the State Opposition, smacks of short-sighted and knee-jerked reactions, Greg Barn’s “restorative justice” has a whiff of professional interest.

Anyone who has been assaulted will tell you that it is a traumatic experience. Facing your assailant, under any circumstance, is the last thing you’d want to do.

The business of “restorative justice” lies in the ideal world where unprovoked violent criminals are capable of understanding others’ rights. If they did, they wouldn’t assault anyone, whatever the circumstance, in the first place.

The prevalent violence in Melbourne cannot be curbed by Band-Aid solutions. It is an amalgam of social, as well as planning, problems.

However, as long as we elect governments that wallow in orgiastic privatisation, the balance of justice for the ordinary person will always fall heavily in favour of those who profit from the misery of others; and that includes commercial investments in so-called entertainment centres that have nothing to do with cultural endeavour or public good.

Where does the maxim that if you do the crime you do the time come in the present equation, when someone who causes a brain injury or a drunken driver who causes the death of a friend is sentenced to a few months of community work?

Alex Njoo, St Kilda This is what we must teach

WHILE I agree with Greg Barns that mandatory sentencing is hardly the answer to violent crime, sentences must reflect the seriousness of these crimes and the fact that perpetrators need to be held responsible for their actions.

Although restorative justice might work for some, there is no ”restitution” for our young men and women who now lie buried or brain damaged as a result of violent crime, nor for their shattered families and friends.

We must, in our homes, schools, workplaces, sporting clubs, pubs, clubs, communities and courts teach our sons and daughters that just one punch can kill, that alcohol and drug abuse is no excuse, that they are responsible for their actions and we must adopt a zero-tolerance approach to violence in all its forms.

Judith Russell, Ballarat Straight out of the book

YES, Greg Barns, we’ve read the textbook, too. You’re using the mandatory defence for violence – it’s someone else’s fault.

Francis Smith, Caulfield North

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