im putting together a collection, page-4

As usual yak you have the preceptions of a 10 year old and the judgement of a moron. To consider that you would actually be let loose on patients as a psychologist is a terrifying thought.

I doubt that you will be able to understand this article but just for once try to put your predjudices aside...

Another victory for tabloid hysteria


Charles Richardson writes:

Sydney's Daily Telegraph this morning is lauding the success of one of its more outrageous beat-ups: yesterday's front page story, "Milat prison perks".

For anyone who missed it, the story claimed that convicted serial killer Ivan Milat had been given "luxury items" for his cell in Goulburn's Supermax prison as a reward for good behaviour. The "luxuries", ludicrously enough, consisted of a TV and a sandwich toaster. But, berated by the Telegraph, "victims'" groups and the state opposition (who said jails were becoming "holiday units"), the government quickly caved in: TV and sandwich toaster were removed yesterday. Said Premier Morris Iemma, "We have sought a suspension then a review" of Milat's privileges.

The problems with this way of making public policy should be obvious to anyone who's spent more than a moment thinking about crime or politics. But since that category doesn't seem to include the Tele's editors, let's spell them out:

Government-by-tabloid is a bad idea. Control of crime demands intelligent reflection on the facts, not knee-jerk reaction. If you want to know why the NSW public sector seems so dysfunctional, one explanation is the politicians' habit of giving in to the talkback hosts and tabloid editors with their message of hate and ignorance.
Allocation of "perks" to prisoners has got nothing to do with punishment for the original crime, it's about controlling behaviour in prison. For someone like Milat who's there for life, they're even more important, because you can't use the promise of early release as an inducement. The cost of a few TV sets is utterly trivial compared to a full-scale prison riot.
When Iemma says "we owe it to the victims to review this", you can tell the "victims' rights" movement has gotten way out of hand. Criminal justice isn't about the victims' interests, it's about society's interests: if you want personal retribution, file a civil suit. The victims' and their relatives have got no more right to concern themselves with Milat's treatment than any other citizens or taxpayers.

At least there are some voices of sanity out there. Today's Tele quotes "victims rights campaigner" Ken Marslew: "We're losing the plot here ... if we treat people like animals, they're going to act like animals