Five years' jail for just hanging around?

Issue 

Dale Mills

The leader of the Victorian Liberal opposition has proposed legislation that could land young people in prison for five years for the "crime" of hanging out at the local shopping mall.

According to the September 20 Australian, Coalition justice spokesperson Andrew McIntosh has suggested that Victoria adopt British-style anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs). The purpose of the orders, according to McIntosh, is to allow authorities to take action in a situation where "you're unable to detect any sort of specific criminal offence".

Four thousand orders have been made in Britain since their introduction in 1999.

According to Mary Cunneen of the British civil rights organisation Liberty, ASBOs try to impose "criminal-level penalties through the civil courts — on the basis that someone has 'probably' committed the offence".

ASBOs can ban people from specific activities or from entering particular areas, and can be served on children as young as 10. Once obtained, a breach of the ASBO becomes a criminal offence with a maximum of five years' imprisonment. This means that people can be sent to jail for acts that are not illegal.

The BBC reports that ASBOs have been issued in Britain in connection to a retired teacher in Fife who fed local seagulls, and a 74-year-old who played classical music too loudly.

Peace campaigner Lindis Percy was threatened with an ASBO for protesting at a US military base in Menwith Hill in northern England while waving a US flag with the words "No more meddling please". She escaped an ASBO, but was ordered by the court to wear an electronic tag and to obey an evening curfew.

From Green Left Weekly, September 28, 2005.
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