“Brute Force and Paternalistic Grand Standing”: Sniff Off’s Olivia Barlow on NSW Police Drug Dog Use
After near on two years of the NSW government having relied on local police to heavy-handedly enforce health measures via the threat of monetary penalisation, and, if that didn’t work, brute force, premier Dominic Perrottet has let the COVID Omicron...
NSW Police See In the New Year Having a Field Day Enforcing Antiquated Drug Laws
As COVID-19 cases soar to unprecedented levels statewide and testing measures are withdrawn to almost nonexistence, NSW police has decided it’s an opportune moment to, once again, start cracking down on locals just trying to have a good time. The NSW...
Sacked for Being Vaxxed
A New South Wales woman is seeking damages for unfair dismissal after she was allegedly fired from her job for having the Covid-19 vaccination. Lainie Chait says she was dismissed by the Newcastle-based Church of Ubuntu last October after her...
The Light at the End of the Failed Drug War Is Growing Brighter
The 17th of June this year marked the 50th anniversary of the war on drugs. Launched by then US president Richard Nixon in 1971, the drug war led to the enhancement of law enforcement approaches to prohibition, and a heightened...
The Offence of Supplying a Commercial Quantity of Prohibited Drugs in New South Wales
A Sydney woman described as a ‘Bondi party girl’ who pleaded guilty to supplying a commercial quantity of cocaine over her participation in a dial-a-dealer drug supply operation has been sentenced to imprisonment. 26-year old Danielle Hogan earned herself a...
Sydney Criminal Lawyers® Weekly Rundown – Articles from 6 to 12 December 2021
In case you’ve missed any of them, here’s a rundown of the past week’s articles: Politicians Continue to Behave Badly Despite Sex Commissioner’s Report Our politicians continue to act unacceptably when it comes to harassment, intimidation and abuse, despite the...
What is a Criminal Infringement Notice in New South Wales?
Since 2007, police officers in New South Wales have been empowered to exercise discretion not to send those suspected of committing certain criminal offences to court, but instead issue penalty notices – which are on-the-spot fines commonly known as ‘criminal...
Drug Decriminalisation Likely for the ACT: An Interview With Labor MLA Michael Pettersson
A parliamentary committee review of a proposal to decriminalise drugs in the capital territory tabled its final report last week, and it has recommended the ACT Legislative Assembly should pass laws that would remove criminal sanctions for the personal possession...
“Strip Searches Were Never Meant to Be Routine”: RLC’s Sam Lee on the Splendour Class Action
The protocols stipulating when police can carry out strip searches are set out in a piece of legislation commonly known as the LEPRA. Section 31 of this Act requires that when outside of a police station “the seriousness and urgency...
Litigating Against Police Misconduct: An Interview With ISUEPOLICE’s Luke Brett Moore
Being approached by police with a sniffer dog as you get off the train, and then being taken behind a screen and ordered to strip naked by armed officers sounds like something that would happen living under an authoritarian regime...
