Criminal 'Justice' Act

[Derrida]

This is typically lazy government and knee-jerk legislation by FF, abetted by the greens.

The real scandal here is the hundreds of Gardaí assigned to police 50 or so peaceful protesters in Rossport, while communities affected by crime are abandoned.

So true. The new bill is just there to get the govt a bit of goodwill among the people who have been duped into thinking we have a serious out-of-control crime problem.

If the gardai did their job properly we wouldn't need this bill.

[jpc]

A judge, presiding in private, with neither the accused, nor his or her lawyer present, deciding to detain, or extend the detention, of the accused?

Rotten guards have told lies before to frame the innocent...remember the McBrearty case:

McBrearty Settles Action Against Irish State for ?3 Million - Bock The Robber

Remember the Guildford Four, the Birmingham Six, whose detentions occured with a judge and jury operating in public and with the accuseds' lawyers present.

Ahern should stick to tinkering with his beloved blasphemy law, and then take a longer than usual summer holiday.

That will not sort out the drug crime isue.
Neither will the current set of laws.
Withess protection.
Partitions in courtrooms for organised crime cases.
Remote video questioning.
Oneway glass during the id of criminals.
Might usefully be added to the law.
If Dermo could be bother listening to anyone making suggestions.
But hes a great one for knowing his own mind apparently and wouldn't like anyone to bask in his glory.

[powderfinger]

That will not sort out the drug crime isue.
Neither will the current set of laws.
Withess protection.
Partitions in courtrooms for organised crime cases.
Remote video questioning.
Oneway glass during the id of criminals.
Might usefully be added to the law.
If Dermo could be bother listening to anyone making suggestions.
But hes a great one for knowing his own mind apparently and wouldn't like anyone to bask in his glory.

Good points JPC.
I would suggest that Spike Island is re-opened for currently detained gang criminals of rank higher than pawn/footsoldier.I would have a batch of newly recruited to maintain and enforce their detention.They wouldn't have to be Irish.
I would also move currently serving prison officers between prisons on a regular and frequent basis.
I would increase funding and resources to CAB.
I would overhaul any awareness programmes that are conducted in schools,with the emphasis on shock tactics.The idea being to scare the bejaysus out of any naive foolishness that attaches to entry-level positions available in the criminal organisations.There is no voluntary severance scheme,bar a bullet.
I would conduct a review on the recruitment policy of An Garda Siochana.I would like to see more lads from areas labelled crime hot spots actively recruited.

[blanket]

All sensible suggestions that could and should be looked at as part of the solution to gang crime without resorting to rushed, quite possibly unconstitutional legislation to deal with a criminal problem.

Great article on the issue here, posted by someone on another thread.

Matt Cooper: Be wary of Ahern’s populist crackdown - Times Online

[Rocky]

All sensible suggestions that could and should be looked at as part of the solution to gang crime without resorting to rushed, quite possibly unconstitutional legislation to deal with a criminal problem.

Great article on the issue here, posted by someone on another thread.

Matt Cooper: Be wary of Ahern’s populist crackdown - Times Online

It is a good article. It's a very difficult issue and one that I'm struggling to make up my mind on. However one crucial point and Copper and many people have already made it, is that no legisaltion is even going to come close to sorting out this problem. We need a lot more than that.

[BockTheRobber]

Notably in Limerick?

To the best of my knowledge, there has been one murder in Limerick this year and 16 in the Dublin region.

This is not to minimise the problem Limerick faces in dealing with criminals, but simply to suggest that a recalibration might be in order.

[powderfinger]

It is a good article. It's a very difficult issue and one that I'm struggling to make up my mind on. However one crucial point and Copper and many people have already made it, is that no legisaltion is even going to come close to sorting out this problem. We need a lot more than that.

Good post Rocky.A haphazard approach by those who frame the State's response to an evolving organised crime situation carries significant risk.The possibility that a legislative rush to justice,may in fact be counter productive can not be discounted.

[cashinhand]

"The Sallins Train Robbery occurred on 31 March 1976 when the Cork to Dublin mail train was robbed near Sallins in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland. Approximately IR£ 200,000 was stolen. Four members of the IRSP (Irish Republican Socialist Party), Osgur Breatnach, Nicky Kelly, Brian McNally and John Fitzpatrick were arrested in connection with the robbery.

"After the failure of the authorities to produce a "book of evidence" against them, the four were released. However, Breatnach, Kelly and McNally were immediately rearrested. During interrogation in Garda Síochána custody, they all signed alleged confessions.

"While awaiting trial Kelly jumped bail and left the country. He was tried (in absentia) along with Breatnach and McNally before the non-jury Special Criminal Court. Medical evidence of beatings was presented to the court. The court rejected this evidence, finding that the beatings had been self-inflicted. The three were found guilty, solely on the basis of their confessions, and sentenced to between nine and 12 years' prison.

"In 1980 Breatnach and McNally were acquitted on appeal on the grounds that their statements had been taken under duress. Kelly returned to Ireland shortly afterwards expecting to be acquitted. However he was incarcerated in the maximum-security Portlaoise prison and spent the next four years proclaiming his innocence, including a period on hunger strike.

"After campaigns by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Amnesty International (and even a song Wicklow Boy by the popular folk singer Christy Moore) Kelly was eventually released on "humanitarian grounds" in 1984. He was given a presidential pardon in 1992 and received £750,000 in compensation."

Sallins Train Robbery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Derrida]

Notably in Limerick?

To the best of my knowledge, there has been one murder in Limerick this year and 16 in the Dublin region.

This is not to minimise the problem Limerick faces in dealing with criminals, but simply to suggest that a recalibration might be in order.

I read in some paper yesterday that most of hte members of the Dunden gang in Limerick are already in prison. I've said it before....

* the guards have enough power
* we do not have a crime epidemic
* the law is against the principles of democracy