Since Melinda Tankard Reist clearly trusts the judgement of the Classification Board (Canberra Times, Anti-exploitation campaigners urge ratings classification for art, 28 April 2011), she should be aware that the Henson images rated by the board were at most given a PG rating. This contrasts with something like the Bible, which the Board rightly recommends a Mature audience for.

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The Human Rights Commissioner's 2004 report paved the way for release of refugee children from detention. We've regressed: now more than 900 kids are behind bars and razor wire. It's time for some moral leadership from the top, writes the author of that report, and CLA member, Sev Ozdowski.
Photo: Sev Ozdowski hands down the report in 2004.

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Gradually, every Australian's DNA is aggregating through heel pricks into a national database. But no cohesive laws or firm guidelines govern use of this or other personal DNA data, which is controlled by a "spaghetti junction" of rules. Academics Diana Bowman and David Studdert, writing in the Medical Journal of Australia, call for new national legislation over Guthrie cards for the newborn: tweaking existing laws is not enough, they say.

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No-one in the Queensland Police made any mistake whatsover in connection with the death in a cell on Palm Island of Mulrunji Doomadgee, or in the years of investigations and coronial inquests and court cases which followed. Oh to be a Queensland police officer: Innocent one day, Blameless the next!

Read Jeff Waters' analysis or the Terry Sweetman article.

Restorative justice aims to help victims of crime, turn prisoners into contributors, make prisons better for everyone, and send convicted criminals back into the community to NOT re-offend. Why isn't it in use everywhere? Brian Steels explains how it works.

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Even in special prisons for women, prison authorities always think of them second...or last. Because of that pervasive attitude, women do it very tough. In fighting for individual rights that male prisoners don't need to fight for, the women run the risk of being ostracised as "difficult"

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Editor, The Australian, Sir: Re 'Dads demand blanket DNA testing', The Australian 16 Feb 2011, p3.
I support men’s rights agency director Sue Price's call for mandatory DNA testing at birth, and Sole Parents Union president Kathleen Swinbourne urging uncertain fathers to seek testing during pregnancy. The Federal Government reports cite in the last four years 586 cases of men successfully using DNA testing to show that they were not biologically related to the children they had been financially supporting.

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Restorative justice is a growing trend worldwide, but the concept needs better definition, more targeted use, better reporting and support from governments, Auneesh Kishore writes. His internship report, a joint undertaking with CLA and the Law Faculty of UNSW, lays the groundwork for further research on this important development in how society deals with criminality.

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