Thread by @IndigenousX

Later today, I'll talk a little bit about how legal systems respond to deaths in custody — in the lead up to #JusticeForFella. Do any mob here have any questions they want me to answer when I do?

.@ticley asked: 'How come after all these years have ‘hanging points’ not been taken out of cells?' Lots of reasons! A big reason, connected to legal reviews — coronial recommendations are not binding and in some jurisdictions you can't even require they be read or responded to.

Another reason: expanding use of prisons in the colony, including ones built centuries ago. An example @drcwatego shared was Tamworth Correctional Centre after the death of young Tane Chatfield. It was heritage listed, so 'too expensive' to address. abc.net.au/news/2021-03-0…

.@stevenH91119671 asked: 'Why has there been a lack of Indigenous individuals appointed to the judicial bench? That may make a difference to deaths in custody.' The Select Committee in NSW made this recommendation: parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/lis…. I have some reservations about it.

We (my colleagues at @Jumbunna_Inst) talk a bit about that proposal in front of the committee here: parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/transcr…. Putting mob on the bench doesn't change the structures that families come up against, so on its own doesn't do a lot for how deaths are reviewed.

Separately to all this, there's some exciting future research coming up from @Kirst_Gray on the experiences of First Nations judicial officers — look forward to that!

.@sydlandskvalkyr asked 'How can the police sleep at night when they allow human beings for whom they are responsible die, either indirectly through negligence or actively through police violence?'
Don't know the answer to this one, sorry!