Threatening Judges and Rule of Law
Reading Time: 3 minutesThreats against Colorado Supreme Court judges for finding Trump disqualified from holding public office highlight concern with the state of US rule of law, judiciary and democracy.
Latest Perspectives
Questions But No Answers
Reading Time: 2 minutesWhen in Question Time the government decides not to answer questions asked by the opposition, and instead uses each question asked as an opportunity to attack the opposition, the Government ceases to be accountable to Parliament.
Not Necessarily Misled
Reading Time: 6 minutesMisinformation can determine the outcome of political polls, but do we blame such for our losses because we find the votes of our opponents incomprehensible.
Court Proceedings Need To Be Seen To Be Understood
Reading Time: 6 minutes By its very nature, defamation attracts public attention. Recognising public interest in the high profile defamation proceedings brought against Chanel 10 and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, and the desirability of the public being able to observe and judge for themselves whether justice has been done, the Federal Court has directed the proceedings to be streamed live. Viewing the proceedings streamed by the Court not only provides a first hand insight into the defamation case but also reveals many actual and potential benefits of live streaming court proceedings.
Alfie (2004) Soundtrack by Jagger & Stewart
Reading Time: 2 minutesI recently found the soundtrack to the 2004 version of Alfie. The songs and written and performed jointly by Mick Jagge4 and Dave Stewart. Unlike many movie soundtracks, Alfie (2004) contains a fine collection of songs that certainly rewarded this listener, some 19 years after its release.
US Supreme Court’s Code of Conduct
Reading Time: 2 minutesThat the US Supreme Court’s code of judicial conduct had to be drafted in response to public criticism of inappropriate judicial behaviour is embarassing, but at the same time, to be applauded as a reminder to the Justices and reassurance to the public.
Hackney Diamonds (the remaining ten)
Reading Time: 3 minutesWe finally have the entire gushingly reviewed 2023 Rolling Stones album, ‘Hackney Diamonds’.
Does the album as a whole live up to the four to five star ratings. For me, it didn’t at first, but I’m starting to appreciate just how good it is.
An Apology for the Referendum’s Failure
Reading Time: 5 minutesIn Saturday’s referendum, support for the recognition of Indigenous peoples as Australia’s first people was tied to support for the establishment of a Voice. The benefits of establishing a Voice and why it needed to be entrenched in the constitution were not presented and consequently, were predictably and understandably not supported. The reasons for proposing the Voice were not explained, and not considered in a constitutional convention by a cross section of Australian people. Consequently, attributing blame to the No camp is a distraction by those who should have known better, who need to accept responsibility, and most importantly, who owe Indigenous people an apology.
Books
Reading Time: < 1 minuteACADEMIC WRITINGS BOOKS Daniel Stepniak, Audio-Visual Coverage of Courts: A Comparative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2008, (ISBN: 9780521875271) First chapter,...
Published Reports
Reading Time: < 1 minuteACADEMIC WRITINGS PUBLISHED REPORTS Electronic Media Coverage of Courts: A Report Prepared for The Federal Court of Australia by Daniel Stepniak Federal Court of Australia, 1998, (ISBN 0 86422 8937) ...
