What a brilliant article! I don't know if it is just me, but is seems our pollies are succumbing to the desire to "impose order" their subjects more often in this decade than in ones past. This article is a marvellous explanation of why they shouldn't.

I see it is one of the "Best Blogs 2008", so I guess it should not be a surprise.

Ah but we have to protect peoples right not to be annoyed. I look at the SCG cricket as an example of current lawmaking and policing. Zero tolerance on anyone who could possibly make another person uncomfortable, and police it with shock and awe.

Nip things in the bud. If someone stacks 3 plastic cups together, or starts counting down from 10, or singing too loudly, kick them out before they make one of those deadly beer snakes, or encourage people to stand up as one or join in the singing.

It's also good to discourage people from ignoring the commercial outlets and sponsors. Protect the monopoly catering industry from cheapskates by searching through their bags and limiting them to soft containers and regulating any signs or clothing that contradicts the advertising aims of the paying sponsors.

Excellent post and still very relevant.

I wonder if New South Wales Opposition justice spokesman Greg Smith somehow read it.

Characterised by some people as extreme right wing because of his association with Opus Dei, he recently took up a similar message, http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/being-tough-on-crime-does-not-pay/2009/01/08/1231004192761.html :

"The pledge by the Coalition's justice spokesman, Greg Smith, to end the law and order auction should be applauded. If we are spared another state election of retributive madness and punishment one-upmanship, maybe politicians can address the real issues of crime and justice in this state today.

"These are issues of overcrowded prisons, under-resourced courts, overstretched and undertrained police, and discrimination against our indigenous people. These are issues of domestic violence and child abuse embedded in our cities across all classes and cultures. These are tragic and dangerous issues of young male violence fuelled by alcohol, making victimisation an all too common characteristic of Friday out.

"I suspect Smith's comments, welcomed as they are, and long overdue, are not evidence of some merciful epiphany. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California's conservative Governor, has reached a similar point in his pronouncements on crime.

"He was forced to take stock, faced with the stark fact that the cost of prisons had outstripped any other single component of state financing. Irrespective of the political seduction surrounding 'tough on crime' electioneering, health and education had to be prioritised. [...]

"The challenge for any new government is how to sell a shift in justice rhetoric from 'lock them up and throw away the key'. With an electorate fed a diet of fear and punishment, how is Macquarie Street to deal with economic realities and not look soft on crime?

"Smith is wise in appreciating the need to reprogram public opinion as the first phase. From the 1970s until now, rehabilitation has been the crime and justice 'f' word. Politicians have denied its reality despite the constant pleas from practitioners to invest in cost-effective community corrections and early intervention. [...]"

I've never voted for the Coalition before, but this guy has my serious attention.

Thanks for your feedback... it is interesting to see what people think about articles when they're 'away' from their home blog :)

I must admit I did have some of the incredibly heavy-handed policing at the cricket in recent times in mind when I wrote this, and it's something that I've written about before. No-one, it seems, is allowed to have any fun any more -- in case it 'annoys' others.

Interesting, too, that some of the NSW Catholic right are starting to realise that fun-squashing and 'Laura Norder' is not always either useful or effective.