Getting justice wrong: Myths, the media and crime

Justice may be nothing more than people getting what they deserve - but who is to decide that?

And how?

Tabloid journalists hunting a shock story? Talkback hosts feeding the anxieties and prejudices of the ill-informed? Politicians on the election trail chasing an easy vote?

All have a vested interest in crime. All help generate public discussion and concern about the latest ‘crime wave’, ‘war on drugs’, ‘soft judges’, ‘zero tolerance’.

Discussion full of headline fodder, sound bites and dodgy figures.

Discussion that gets justice wrong, produces failing policies and allocates taxpayers’ dollars ineffectively.

Getting Justice Wrong is not another government report or political polemic.

It simply presents some facts about how criminal justice happens and why it happens that way.

It provides information, usually at variance with the conventional ‘wisdom’ peddled by opinion manipulators.

It offers food for thought, at a time when the next election ‘law and order auction’ is not far off.