1 post tagged “law”
Before I go any further, let me simply say a thank you to Voxer, Snowy for the idea of singling out my favourite day of the week for a quite muse and expression of thoughts. I think it's a grand idea, and does give one the opportunity to sit, think and write. If you're at all like me, you'll have become somewhat addicted to the blogging phenomenon, and the art of writing.
I enjoy Fridays for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the end of the working week and all of the implied stresses which that series of five contiguous days brings. The early start, commuting, responsibilities and demands of the working day and the commute home. Five days of that in rotational succession is enough to wear me out, but Fridays mean that tomorrow, I can sleep in and catch up on the hour per day I lose between Monday and Friday. I find I need, on average, a minimum of seven hours uninterrupted sleep per night. I'm a night-owl, which doesn't aid my sleep patterns. I find difficulty in winding down sufficiently after a day's grind to get the head down before 11pm and asleep before midnight. Yes, I've tried all the usuals. Warm milk; reading for an hour or so before lights out; taking a walk before bed. My internal clock doesn't like being reset.
So I look forward to Fridays. I also look forward to the think-time. When the mind realises that it doesn't have to stay just that little bit aware of the coming tomorrow, it tends to think about the issues which surround us all, but which we don't necessarily pay due attention. Currently, there are plenty to consider. Climate change, vigilantism, paedophilia, politics, interest rates and the costs of living. Much of the aforementioned we can do nothing about. Oh sure, turn out the kitchen light when no-one's in the kitchen ( I wish I could get my wife to do that! ) and not use the car unnecessarily to save petrol, but the issue which has irked me most this week, is that of Dennis Ferguson's fate.
For those who don't know, and you'd have to be a non-Aussie not to have been bombarded by all manner of media with the non-exploits of Dennis Ferguson. Who is this person? Dennis Ferguson is what prison inmates colloquially call a Rock Spider. A Paedophile. Ferguson is a particularly nasty form of the species. However, due to a set of circumstances which have unfolded in his favour, and due entirely to the type of individual he is, Ferguson is currently a free man. As free as his well-deserved reputation allows at any rate. It's ironic that while society rejects him overwhelmingly, that same community is forced through adherence to the rule of law to support and protect him.
I find the situation incongruous and somewhat troubling in that, as low a form of life as Ferguson may be, he remains a human being on some level. He is entitled by law to the protection which the law provides to those who do not transgress it. Being a free man by decree - at least until the State Government appeal to the judicial decision to release him. While this Courier Mail article focusses on the sensational aspects of the case, it does raise an interesting point, being the out-of-touch attitude the judiciary have clearly exhibited to this case. As the article states, the government and police are in no-win situations. Ferguson is entitled to police protection, as would any of us be, and as any of us are on a daily basis from those who would do us harm. My belief is that while this reprehensible individual might perceivably pose a threat to whatever community he resides in, that threat is effectively negated by the intense police presence guarding his welfare. The questions to ask, I suppose, are these.
If the community didn't express it's ire and disgust at having this individual in its midst, would the government and police be applying the level of two-way protection to both Ferguson and community through the close guard they have on the former? Is the monetary cost justified? Is the media justified in sensationalising Ferguson's whereabouts on the basis of informing the public? Does the public have the right to know, as I heard the Police Minister Judy Spence claim it didn't, about the status quo of individuals like Ferguson? Most importantly, does any society which calls itself 'developed', have the right to hound any individual into exile?
Troubling questions. I'm a parent. I despise the perversion which corrupts these type of people. However, I also realise that an individual has rights, regardless of how they might, through their actions, impact on the rights of others. So, just how should a 'developed' society deal with those who have a history of harming children?
