Rickard's right to Justice

It may not be fashionable to come to the defense of New Zealand's most senior police casuality. A forensic need to pursue historic cases that has arisen as the ability to examine ancient evidence acclerated lightyears ahead of where it was.

The Law is the Law - one of those trite sentiments that justifies the brute application of law. The law is not a "Natural Law" that is enforced by inevitability or tendancy. The Law is a set of agreements that are reached after five or ten years of sorting our leaders into government and opposition.

Historic accountability does present an interesting problem.

Political change follows cultural support for protest activity endorsed demographically. This was first made clear to Government in 1381 peasants revolt, and again in 1985 in the UK the invincible Thatcher Government lost its footing due to disobedience by 30% of the population not paying their Poll Tax. They still pay a council tax which amount to a similar thing, but the Labuour party eventually won power for an extended period. The same phenomena can be observed in the late 1960s America with the burning of draft cards. An act of deliberate criminal protest, that assumes democractic legality by the significant numbers participating.

There is a certain danger with these Police Sex trials, one after another. The weight of multiple accusations is not tried, as in New Zealand there are laws of supression that keeps the trials separable. Perhaps it would be for the public good to

It is is the encouragement and impetus it gives the population to be more bold in their protests. The last major confrontation between the puhlic and the police - the last large socially changing one - was in 1981 - when the racially selected Springbok Tour was in New Zealand. The Rickards defense lawyer and Rickards challenge our perceptions by not showing minimal latent contrition for his deeds, which in the context they were committed may have been "consensual" but when spoken about 20 years on sound brutish and horrific to the majority who do not see something wrong with these men and their potential ability to recognise that they indeed have caused harm to people.

Justice may be blind. Rickards costs mount up, apparently about $500,000 (of $600,000 earned over three years of suspension). He is paid wages by the tax payer. Ultimately this is a tax payer funded political drama.