Brown Justice

Brown Justice is the type of justice you just have to accept if you are brown in this country. As red neckers scramble to lap up Don’s latest musings that ‘Maaaaaaari get too much, and they aren’t even indigenous’, it’s often conveniently forgotten that institutionalized racism is alive and kicking in NZ, fronted by people who can’t possibly be racist because they have Maari friends.

Of course I make these comments pointing out the inconvenient truths of our system, knowing the usual screams from the right will post everything from “You left wing bastard” to “You race traitor” – in response, I will yawn.

Forget the fact that Maori get substandard service in hospitals or don’t even bother complaining about heavy sentences in prison because of a perceived bias, let’s look at three young woman, who if they had been white – would never have been charged with a crime they never committed, and then have had to battle for compensation.

Girls accept compensation for wrongful imprisonment
Three young girls jailed for a crime they did not commit have accepted an offer of compensation from the government. Tania Vini, Lucy Akatere and McCushla Fuataha have accepted compensation ranging between $162,000 and $176,000 each after a long battle for an increase on the initial amount offered.

Ms Vini will receive $176,621.36, Ms Akatere will receive $162,830.36, and Ms Fuataha will receive $165,330, Justice Minister Mark Burton said today.

The trio, then teenagers, were convicted in August 1999 for the aggravated robbery of a 16-year-old girl in Mt Roskill.

They served eight months in prison and were unable to finish school after being convicted of the gang attack and robbery of the teenage girl in Three Kings in August 1999.

They were acquitted in 2001, when the witness admitted she had lied, and the three were proven to have been nowhere near the scene.
>NZ Herald