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| ASBOs - Criminalise the Symptoms, Ignore the Disease | |
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By Tami Peterson Centuries ago, the solution offered for those such as the mentally ill, elderly, drug addicts, prostitutes and child beggars was to lock them away in dingy jails with “treatments” of whips and chains. We have not come very far. Hundreds of years later the British government is still jailing and encouraging public humiliation of those in society who most need assistance and positive encouragement. The Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) was brought about as a result of the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act and allows the banning of any activity that any individual believes causes them “alarm or distress”. It is precisely because of this broad language and the inability for those faced with the imposition of an ASBO to have a jury trial that the measure has been so incredibly controversial. Any violation of the ASBO can result in jail time. Indeed, over 40 per cent of the ASBOs handed out are violated, which can result in sentences of up to five years with 10 people imprisoned every week. Half of all ASBOs are given to young people under the age of 18 with others being handed out to those with mental health issues. One stark example is an ASBO given to a suicidal woman banning her from going near bridges or rivers. If she attempts suicide again, she will get imprisoned. Blaming the individual, instead of the social problem, gives cover to the policy that New Labour has carried on from the Conservatives of slashing social provisions – while using language that hearkens back to the Thatcher era. If it is deemed as the individual’s fault, there is nothing the government can do but “enforce the law” and assure the public that they are doing the best they can. Media outlets from the BBC to the Daily Mail carry screaming headlines about “ASBO louts”, “thugs” and “yobs” while remaining virtually silent on the criminal behaviour of the British government as it privatises hospitals, eliminates mental health facilities and cuts social programmes for young people. In the midst of this hysteria, and despite a decrease in real crime, the Home Office has been urging local authorities to participate in more “naming and shaming” by publishing names and photos of the “offenders” and their “crimes” through leaflets distributed in the communities. This includes children as young as age 10 and has already led to acts of vigilantism. Youths all across the country are getting ASBOs for things such as hanging out on a street corner, wearing caps and hoodies, or swearing. Those youth most affected by ASBOs are the poor, the working class and/or those from ethnic minorities. This is not the first time Britain has used a law specifically to harass young people and young minorities in particular. The “Sus” laws were used to harass black men in the 1970s and had been on the books for years as part of the Vagrancy Act of 1824. This made it “illegal for a suspected person or reputed thief to frequent or loiter in a public place with intent to commit an arrestable offence”. This, in effect, gave the police the power to stop and search an individual purely on the basis of “suspicion”. This was so blatantly abused that some believe it was a major cause of the anger, which sparked the Brixton riots of 1981. Eventually, even the Tories scrapped the laws altogether. There has been documented evidence that those participating in political activity have also been threatened with and received ASBOs. One example from the ASBOwatch is of a 63-year-old peace campaigner who succeeded in getting her ASBO overturned, but was subsequently made to wear an electronic ankle bracelet for eight weeks in May, making her the first peace protester in Britain to face electronic tagging. Another example is a man who was threatened with an eviction order and an ASBO for distributing anti-war leaflets on his council estate. Whether ASBO's represent an attempt to criminalize a whole generation, imprison the mentally ill or victimise political activists, it is clear that, although they effect youth disproportionately, ASBOs are not simply an attack on one sector of society. Rather they are another example of the increasing encroachment upon civil liberties by New Labour. Instead of privatizing and slashing away at social provisions and then shaming, blaming and criminalizing the individuals who most need those provisions, the British government must discontinue its wanton destruction of social services and begin to invest in those it claims to represent. It is precisely because the mentally ill do not have proper care facilities, precisely because young people do not have adequate social programmes, precisely because there are not enough resources put into rehabilitation that you have “anti-social” behaviour. True “anti-social” behaviour is merely a symptom of a disease that breeds inequality - the disease of capitalism. For more information see: www.asboconcern.org.uk and www.statewatch.org/asbo/ASBOwatch.html
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