Australia: New 'Untidy' Law, Same Old Authoritarian Creep
New South Wales’ Labor government, fresh off ignoring legal advice, is pushing legislation to penalize prisoners for 'trivial' infractions like 'eating food in a cell' or 'looking untidy.' The proposed amendment to the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act lowers the standard of proof for misconduct from 'beyond reasonable doubt' to a mere 'balance of probabilities.' One might wonder if
'balancing the probabilities' now includes the state's endless appetite for control, rather than actual justice. This isn't about cleanliness; this is about extending absolute power within the carceral state. The system finds new ways to dehumanize, to strip dignity, then calls it 'order.' When governments brush aside legal advice to expand their power over the most vulnerable, it appears they're
simply establishing an even more malleable framework for future, less 'trivial,' abuses. How many degrees of 'balance of probabilities' does it take before it's just 'whatever the state says?'