Should We Help Those Who Are Attracted to Children?
Child sex offenders are regarded with great disdain by the general public, with many suggesting that we should ‘lock’em up and throw away the key’, or even castrate or execute them. But when it comes to those who admit being...
How Are Prison Inmates Classified?
Andrew Peter Garforth, a current inmate at Goulburn prison has recently made headlines after it was announced that his security classification had been downgraded. Garforth was convicted in 1992 of the sexual assault and murder of a nine year old...
Honest and Reasonable Mistake About Age in Child Sex Cases
Imagine this: You’re 17 or 18 years old and go out one night to a party with some friends, where you meet a person who says they are 16. You start chatting to them, one thing leads to another and...
Homosexuality and the Law: How Far Have We Come?
Same-sex marriage was first legalised in the Netherlands in 2001. Since then, 21 countries have in place legislation allowing for same-sex marriage, with the US joining the list on 26 July 2015. Australia has not yet passed legislation to allow...
Innocent Man Spends 22 Years in Prison Based on False Evidence
Kirk Odom was just 18-years-old when police accused him of a violent sexual assault and robbery of a woman in her own home. Police approached Odom in the street and said he was the man in a police sketch. That...
Restorative Justice – Does It Really Work?
If you had been physically or sexually assaulted, would you ever consider facing the person who assaulted you to tell them how the incident had impacted upon your life? Such a situation might seem confronting, but for some it offers...
Prison Staff Who Commit Crimes
When you hear about crime happening in prisons, you probably tend to think it’s the inmates, right? Well, it’s not just the prisoners. Prison staff can also be involved, as these two recent cases appear to demonstrate. Trade instructor convicted...
Teacher’s Wrongful Conviction Finally Overturned
In the carefree days of 1979, things were a bit different from the way they are now. Teachers could take students on excursions and camps without other adults being present to keep an eye on things. They could be in...
Is Being Aggressive Illegal?
An Australian man flying home from Chile last October had an unexpected layover in New Zealand after he was charged with indecent assault and threatening to kill over allegedly becoming drunk and aggressive towards flight staff. While Qantas has a...
The Julian Assange Saga: Secrets, Suspicions and Supreme Court Decisions
Australian citizen Julian Assange rocketed into the national consciousness in 2010. Assange is the co-founder of WikiLeaks, a website dedicated to publishing secret information and leaks from anonymous sources. That year, WikiLeaks published thousands of secret US military and diplomatic...
