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Re: Fwd: "Dangerous Personality Disorder"
So what they are *really* doing is formalizing the systems already in
place in both the UK and USA (see your home country's civil committment
laws, oft referred to as the 2PC [2 Psychiatrist Committment] Laws)...
At least these kind of shenanigans will draw a little more public
attention this way...
Yours,
J.A. Terranson
sysadmin@mfn.org
--
If Governments really want us to behave like civilized human beings, they
should give serious consideration towards setting a better example:
Ruling by force, rather than consensus; the unrestrained application of
unjust laws (which the victim-populations were never allowed input on in
the first place); the State policy of justice only for the rich and
elected; the intentional abuse and occassionally destruction of entire
populations merely to distract an already apathetic and numb electorate...
This type of demogoguery must surely wipe out the fascist United States
as surely as it wiped out the fascist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
The views expressed here are mine, and NOT those of my employers,
associates, or others. Besides, if it *were* the opinion of all of
those people, I doubt there would be a problem to bitch about in the
first place...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
On Wed, 3 Mar 1999, Tim Griffiths wrote:
:Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 13:31:32 +0200
:From: Tim Griffiths <griffith@wis.weizmann.ac.il>
:To: cypherpunks@toad.com
:Subject: Fwd: "Dangerous Personality Disorder"
:
:Just makes me throw my hands in the air and go out
:to buy a really big gun - oh, hold on, guns are banned
:in the UK and that might be a 'dangerous personality' act.
:
:
:WSWS : News & Analysis : Europe : Britain
:
:An assault on civil liberties
:
:British Home Secretary proposes preventative detention
:
:By Mike Ingram
:23 February 1999
:
:Last week Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw proposed legislation allowing
:the courts to detain anyone considered to have a "dangerous personality
:disorder", whether or not they have committed a crime. This would
:represent
:a fundamental restructuring of the British legal system and a major
:attack
:on civil liberties.
:
:In a statement to the House of Commons Straw said that the government is
:proposing "new legal powers for the indeterminate but reviewable
:detention
:of dangerously personality-disordered individuals. These powers would
:apply
:whether or not someone was before the courts for an offence.... If
:someone
:is before the courts for an offence--no matter what the nature of the
:offence is and even if it does not normally carry a heavy penalty--it
:would
:be open to the courts, subject to the criteria being met, to impose one
:of
:these indeterminate but reviewable sentences."
:
:During a largely supportive debate, several MPs voiced worries over such
:an
:open abuse of civil liberties and human rights. Labour's Ann Clwyd said
:that she was concerned "about putting people in prison--locking them
:up--on
:the basis not of what they have done but of what they might do. I am
:sure
:that my Right Honourable friend [Straw] will agree that it is very
:difficult--perhaps it is the most difficult thing of all--to prove that
:one
:is not dangerous."
:
:David Winnick said he was uneasy about "the possibility of abuses and
:the
:nightmare scenario of finding in 25 years' time that someone has been
:wrongfully detained from the beginning."
:
:Under the present Mental Health Act it is already possible to detain
:people
:deemed by doctors to be dangerously ill. Straw argues that because this
:requires that people be diagnosed as suffering from "treatable"
:disorders,
:it is inadequate to deal with the problem. Rather than address the
:question
:of why certain people are simply written off as "untreatable", Straw is
:seeking to use the legitimate concerns of the population for the
:reactionary law-and-order agenda Labour has pursued since coming to
:office.
:
:Tony Benn compared Straw's proposals and internment without trial in
:Northern Ireland, which he said "was justified on exactly the same
:basis--that people who had committed no offence should be kept out of
:the
:public domain without a trial." "In the Soviet Union," Benn noted, "that
:practice was widely followed because it can be easily abused."
:
:The proposals are to be introduced in a consultation document this
:spring,
:presented jointly by the Home Secretary and the Health Minister.
:
:Straw rejected Benn's parallel with internment because that was an
:executive (government) decision, whereas his legislation would place
:decisions in the hands of the courts. Even when the burden is placed
:upon
:the court to prove "guilt beyond a reasonable doubt", however, there
:have
:been numerous politically motivated frame-ups of innocent people such as
:the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six.
:
:Another serious warning is the case of Stefan Kiszko who was wrongfully
:accused of the rape and murder of schoolgirl Lesley Molseed and spent 16
:years in jail until his acquittal in 1992. Kiszko was one of many
:long-term
:inmates forced to stay in prison because they refused to admit their
:guilt
:and "address their offending behaviour"--a prerequisite for being
:granted
:parole. He died within a year of his release.
:
:Dr. David Wilson was the governor of Underwood jail in Buckinghamshire
:while Kiszko was detained there. He resigned from his post as a senior
:official at Prison Service headquarters 18 months ago and has joined the
:Prison Reform Trust, where he received numerous convincing claims of
:innocence by inmates. He now believes that at least one in 50 inmates
:were
:probably innocent. Wilson had tried to persuade Kiszko to attend a Sex
:Offenders Treatment Programme, in which he would have had to admit to
:rape
:and murder and discuss the reasons for his offence. "Of course he
:refused--it was absurd," Wilson told the BBC in April 1998.
:
:The latest proposals set the stage for even greater injustices. All that
:would be necessary is for someone to be declared "potentially dangerous"
:for them to be detained indefinitely with no right of appeal.
:
:
:
:Top of page
:
:
:Readers: The WSWS invites your comments. Please send e-mail.
:
:
:--
:Tim Griffiths griffith@wis.weizmann.ac.il
:Center for Submicron Research http://tim01.ex.ac.uk
:Weizmann Institute of Science (972)-8-934-2736
:Rehovot 76100 Israel
:
: 'Do not attempt to oppose the Way of the Universe.
: But first make sure you know the Way of the Universe'.
: - Musashi
-Caveat Lector-
>From wsws.org
WSWS : News & Analysis : Europe : Britain
An assault on civil liberties
British Home Secretary proposes preventative detention
By Mike Ingram
23 February 1999
Last week Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw proposed legislation allowing
the courts to detain anyone considered to have a "dangerous personality
disorder", whether or not they have committed a crime. This would represent
a fundamental restructuring of the British legal system and a major attack
on civil liberties.
In a statement to the House of Commons Straw said that the government is
proposing "new legal powers for the indeterminate but reviewable detention
of dangerously personality-disordered individuals. These powers would apply
whether or not someone was before the courts for an offence.... If someone
is before the courts for an offence--no matter what the nature of the
offence is and even if it does not normally carry a heavy penalty--it would
be open to the courts, subject to the criteria being met, to impose one of
these indeterminate but reviewable sentences."
During a largely supportive debate, several MPs voiced worries over such an
open abuse of civil liberties and human rights. Labour's Ann Clwyd said
that she was concerned "about putting people in prison--locking them up--on
the basis not of what they have done but of what they might do. I am sure
that my Right Honourable friend [Straw] will agree that it is very
difficult--perhaps it is the most difficult thing of all--to prove that one
is not dangerous."
David Winnick said he was uneasy about "the possibility of abuses and the
nightmare scenario of finding in 25 years' time that someone has been
wrongfully detained from the beginning."
Under the present Mental Health Act it is already possible to detain people
deemed by doctors to be dangerously ill. Straw argues that because this
requires that people be diagnosed as suffering from "treatable" disorders,
it is inadequate to deal with the problem. Rather than address the question
of why certain people are simply written off as "untreatable", Straw is
seeking to use the legitimate concerns of the population for the
reactionary law-and-order agenda Labour has pursued since coming to office.
Tony Benn compared Straw's proposals and internment without trial in
Northern Ireland, which he said "was justified on exactly the same
basis--that people who had committed no offence should be kept out of the
public domain without a trial." "In the Soviet Union," Benn noted, "that
practice was widely followed because it can be easily abused."
The proposals are to be introduced in a consultation document this spring,
presented jointly by the Home Secretary and the Health Minister.
Straw rejected Benn's parallel with internment because that was an
executive (government) decision, whereas his legislation would place
decisions in the hands of the courts. Even when the burden is placed upon
the court to prove "guilt beyond a reasonable doubt", however, there have
been numerous politically motivated frame-ups of innocent people such as
the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six.
Another serious warning is the case of Stefan Kiszko who was wrongfully
accused of the rape and murder of schoolgirl Lesley Molseed and spent 16
years in jail until his acquittal in 1992. Kiszko was one of many long-term
inmates forced to stay in prison because they refused to admit their guilt
and "address their offending behaviour"--a prerequisite for being granted
parole. He died within a year of his release.
Dr. David Wilson was the governor of Underwood jail in Buckinghamshire
while Kiszko was detained there. He resigned from his post as a senior
official at Prison Service headquarters 18 months ago and has joined the
Prison Reform Trust, where he received numerous convincing claims of
innocence by inmates. He now believes that at least one in 50 inmates were
probably innocent. Wilson had tried to persuade Kiszko to attend a Sex
Offenders Treatment Programme, in which he would have had to admit to rape
and murder and discuss the reasons for his offence. "Of course he
refused--it was absurd," Wilson told the BBC in April 1998.
The latest proposals set the stage for even greater injustices. All that
would be necessary is for someone to be declared "potentially dangerous"
for them to be detained indefinitely with no right of appeal.
Top of page
Readers: The WSWS invites your comments. Please send e-mail.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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