TOXIC CULTURE – PART 2
How many
times have we read or heard ‘stories’ of victims of domestic violence, child
and elder abuse, suspicious deaths and other crimes, even the most extreme,
where the authorities have not only done nothing to help, but actively refused
to look at evidence and even discouraged the victims from speaking of it again,
ever. This is the kind of behaviour we can expect from lawyers, whose only
interest is making money from the suffering of others, and other freelance
trolls who get off on causing harm to vulnerable people for no other reason
than they can.
In one
particular case involving the custody of three children, the ruling of
Magistrate Joe Harman was disturbing for a number of reasons. Not only did Mr
Harman only rely upon the findings of a single person who had only had brief
encounters with the family (Court Psychologist though they may have been), or
fail to consider that this individual may have had a warped agenda of their
own, but because he made troubling comments in regards to his warped ruling…
… remarks
that should have set off alarm bells in the very authorities in attendance
during that hearing. They were so at odds with his history a bystander could
have been forgiven for assuming Mr Harman had a split personality disorder, or schizophrenia,
or was someone who has partaken in ‘recreational’ use of marijuana, a gateway
narcotic behind so much of the toxic culture, and one that leads to schizophrenia
and the resulting violence toward (and deaths of) women, children, and even
random strangers, too many killed or maimed while the offender operates a vehicle.
First, he
referred to the father as their “father”, a very formal tone, but then he
referred to the mother as “mum”, almost mocking the plight of the children as
he inflicted his idiotic ruling. The children were clearly distressed and
instead of considering the best interests of the children, he seemed determined
to force them to submit to his and the father’s desires, threatening to send
them to a refugee for failing to do so in what could only be considered an act
of intimidation, to punish and terrorise them into compliance, an outcome that
clearly distressed them.
Second, he
made the very bizarre remark that the boys were “so young, strong and full of testosterone”
as if quoting from a paedophile’s journal. Then he accused them of having entrenched views, of their mother poisoning them
against their father, and followed that with threats of arrest and
incarceration if the mother or her family tried to contact the children,
misusing the law to punish her (for crimes he had convinced himself she had
committed, based on no actual evidence), isolate the children from her, and
inflict injustice. His comments and attitude would send shivers down the spine
of any decent person.
The actual
details for the two cases being discussed are extremely difficult to locate, if
they can be found at all. The flwg.com.au/forum cited in the examples scatter
throughout this blog post provided two links. The ‘editor’ there noted that the
one that seemed to be causing confusion, and had been reported in the media in
regards to the apology for the behaviour of Magistrate Joseph Harmen, appeared
to be the second one (Aiken & Aiken 2011). However, that case varies so
wildly from what the media actually reported that it could very well be a
completely unrelated case.
Then again, the editor seems to have a tenuous
grip on reality. In one instance the ‘editor’ wrote “Lastly NO ONE has asked
for any names and addresses of any of the contributors” in response to a quoted
comment from srldad101 who asked Samba to “please post your full name, address,
driver’s licence and TFN so that we can take your posts seriously”. It was
right there. The quote was right there in the forum, a few contributions
earlier.
How the
hell could the Editor have missed that? I reread it all a few times and, yup,
still there! Yet the Editor had made his bizarre comment claiming it hadn’t
been said at all. How was that possible? Maybe it’s because only defence
lawyers are allowed to make unfounded allegations and defame people, troll them
to discredit facts, and simply can’t transition into acceptable behaviour. His
inability to accept facts and such obvious evidence left me so perplexed that I
contacted him…
… and
received absolutely no response whatsoever. And why would he (or any other
colossal douchebag of his ilk) respond to a member of the public asking for
clarification on the case in question, or one who expresses concern about the
poor behaviour of people involved in the legal system? Clearly, these fools are
under the impression they are above mere mortals, that the lives of
insignificant victims of crime and injustice deserve only their contempt and
twisted perceptions of morality.
Perhaps if
I had thrown several hundred dollars at him, he may have deigned to respond
with some snide, self-important, idiotic remark, but what’s the point? You may
as well burn what little money you have and hurl yourself into a sewer as deal
with dickheads like that lot. In any case, either the Editor had mistakenly
posted on an unrelated thread, got his facts confused (and how much confidence
does that inspire?) or, even if he had not, it would explain why the legal
system is so monumentally fucked up.
You only
need to wander through some of the responses to that case in order to see that
far too many of these ‘legal professionals’ are no better than your garden
variety half-wit or freelance troll lurking under metaphorical bridges on
social media sites in the hope of molesting some poor unsuspecting goat or,
failing that, better people. They use clichés to appear as pseudo-intellectuals
yet their vile comments are hypocritical, founded in narcissism and projected
onto their victims.
When their
personalities are little different to the misogynistic domestic violence
offenders, child abusers, racists, bigots and rapists that they represent,
whatever claim they have to education is clearly nothing more than a
Participation Award. They embody the very toxic culture causing so many
problems as it is entrenched in their industry and society in general, reducing
legal outcomes to commodities the most disadvantaged cannot access, let alone
afford, and demanding their victims remain silent.
And then
there was the revelations from what followed. Joe Harmen was suspended after a
number of his rulings were overturned. Despite a history of otherwise good
rulings and decent behaviour, that respected justice and the dignity of
victims, he suddenly started acting like a predator. It was at odds with most
of his other decisions and actions. Perhaps it was the pressure. He had
recently railed against funding cuts in the wake of sudden, massive surges in
Family Court matters, then he appeared to snap.
It was
even suggested he was suffering a mental illness and that he had agreed to
restricted to “non-sitting duties” for one month and would undertake “judicial
education and counselling”. He ‘agreed’? Like he had a choice? But if his acts
of misogynistic, victim blaming, idiocy were branded a mental illness, then
surely there are a great many ‘men’ in society who need to be diagnosed and
treated for the same disorder… starting with others in his profession, like the
halfwits srl101dad and Craigo.
And what
happens to those victims being denied help and, instead, bullied and
intimidated by the authorities, and forced to suffer in silence for years,
decades. And does the abuse they suffer magically end after they try to get
help, when they turn eighteen, or when they flee? No. They never escape. The
scars and psychological harm remain, forever. How does this deter predators?
How does this motivate the public to demand positive change? And what do the
authorities learn?
They learn
to turn a blind eye as victims become the same monsters that brutalised them,
and they learn to cover it up, any way they can, heaping a multitude of sins on
victims already burdened with more than they can carry, snuffing out little
lights before they get a chance to shine, and rejoicing in the cold-blooded
relief of secrets taken to the grave when those lost and broken souls find a
way to end the suffering, then feign shock and express horror when the truth is
finally exposed by the media…
… and yet... Joe Harman has been a Judge of the Federal
Circuit Court of Australia since being appointed in June 2010. Before that, he
worked in private practice as a lawyer. He served as a mediator/FDRP in both
private and community practice including at Blacktown and Bathurst FRCs, and with
Unifam (now Uniting) Penrith. He is an author, has lectured at Western Sydney
University in family law, and written and presented extensively on family law
and mediation topics both in Australia and internationally.
In 2005
Joe Harman received a Stop Domestic Violence award. In 2013 he was an
Australian Human Rights Commission Law Award finalist. In 2015 he was a Law
& Justice Foundation’s Justice Medal finalist and the recipient of a
Resolution Institute Practitioner Award for commitment to excellence in dispute
resolution. And all this despite his unconscionable behaviour that led to
official apologies and restricted duties while he received education and
counselling for a mental health issue… and absolutely no chance of him being
removed from his position despite his misbehaviour and flawed capacity.
This is
the price of that vile, rampant, toxic, festering entrenched culture of corruption.
A society where the excesses of self-centred greed are not only not
discouraged, but concealed and enabled by isolating and silencing the victims.
It is into this world that children are borne into sin. Where they become
little more than idiotic, over-privileged, talentless hacks trying to bully
their way to the top by driving off better, more competent people, and in the
worst cases…
… where
they become twisted and corrupted, assimilating the worst excesses of their
abusers, rather than simply broken and lost. Where reports of child abuse, no
matter how extreme or concerning, are either ignored or left untended, for
years or decades until the true scale of the horror is exposed. Not just of
what happened back then, but what has happened in the time it took for real
action to be taken to help and protect the victims. And by then it is usually
far, far too late.
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