Judge's detour in `rite of passage' to prison
05.11.2005



By: Tony Koch

A QUEENSLAND judge has embarked on a personal campaign to demolish a ``cultural'' belief among young Aborigines in remote communities that going to jail is a rite of passage on the path to manhood.
Prison -- or ``the big house'' as it is known in Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape York communities -- holds no fear for teenagers because so many of their kin have been convicted of crimes and sent to jail.
As a result, District Court judge Michael Forde has spent the past four years combining his court duties in remote communities with visits to local schools in an attempt to break the cycle that leads many children into the prison system.
Recently he told primary school students at Doomadgee, north of Mt Isa, that they should have a goal in life.
``Attending school each day should be your goal at first,'' he said. ``Your parents should encourage you to continue at school through to Grade 12 and you can then decide what you want to do.''
And to provide added inspiration, he handed out biographies of Aboriginal sporting stars Cathy Freeman and rugby league great Steve Renouf, paid for out of his own pocket, to students identified by teachers as ``triers'' and role models.
``You can be like Cathy Freeman and Steve Renouf and make your dreams come true,'' he said.
For the past four years, Judge Forde has shared the circuit court responsibilities in the Gulf with judge Philip Nase, going to communities including Doomadgee, Mornington Island and Normanton several times a year to conduct hearings and sentence offenders who have pleaded guilty to their crimes.
Last year, Judge Forde was given a special commendation by the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration for his work with indigenous people in the justice system.
Two years ago, he and his then associate, Meg Frisby, produced a handbook to help indigenous people understand the court and penalty system.
The booklet was specifically for the community justice groups -- elected people in the townships who have an official role in assisting with law and order.
The booklet includes a dictionary of court terms and outlines the different sentencing options available -- including probation -- so that jail is the last option.
The community justice groups provide the court with information on the offender -- their work history, the details of the crime, whether they have shown remorse, and whether they consider that a sentence other than prison is appropriate.
During the process, the offender is asked to agree to interviews by the justice group and co-operate with them.
Judge Forde said he was concerned the justice groups were not being properly resourced and helped to do their job.
``These are the people elected by their own to help improve their communities through the justice system,'' he said. ``The increasing social problems of petrol-sniffing and recidivism have to be addressed if the children we saw today are to have any lives at all, and the justice groups can contribute greatly.
``But they cannot do so unless there is government will and financial support to ensure they succeed.''