Criminal justice activists conference

Issue 

Criminal justice activists conference

By Karen Fletcher

The 2nd annual conference of community justice activists — Law and Order: Whose agenda is it anyway? — will be held in Brisbane, March 26-28.

The conference will bring together activists from prisoners' rights and prisoner action, civil liberties and community groups to discuss tactics and strategies to respond to the "law and order" hysteria of the major political parties.

On March 26, three panels of speakers will discuss issues for women in prison, juvenile justice and "families of prisoners — the silent victims".

In a plenary session on March 27, Cape York activist Murandoo Yanner will speak on Aboriginal traditional law and criminal justice, and Brisbane lawyer and film-maker Sam Watson will talk about urban indigenous people's experiences of policing.

A panel on prison privatisation and corporatisation on March 28 will include a report from the Victorian People's Justice Alliance on the spate of deaths occurring in Victoria's private jails, and from Prisoners Legal Service (Qld) on the impact of the corporatisation of prisons in Queensland.

The conference agenda also includes papers and workshops on topics such as prisoner empowerment, drugs in prison, police complaints, rehabilitation and alternatives to prison.

The 4ZZZ Prisoners Program's book of prison poetry, Voices From The Inside, will be launched and a Rock Against Prison held. The conference will be held at Souths Leagues Club, Jane St, West End.

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