Lawyers' hogwash
THE EDITOR, Sir:
How have the mighty fallen!. The special privileges extended to attorneys in our society appears to be eroding as a result of the actions of one of their own.
Now they are being subjected to body searches at prisons like everyone else and they are not happy. There is no reason that I see for anyone to object to a body search in the context of entering a prison or other high security places. The arguments that it is undignified is total hogwash. I say to the attorneys "welcome to the real Jamaica".
As a young black man in Kingston I cannot count the number of times I have been stopped and searched by police in the normal execution of my daily activities. I got searched religiously almost every Saturday morning on my way to high school for Cadet or extra classes. Since adulthood I have been travelling with friends in their cars and we have all been lined up along Spanish Town bypass during rush hour and body-searched. Was that not beneath my dignity? Yes, but I had to submit to it because the security forces must conduct their jobs. They cannot assume that I am law-abiding, because there are those out there who look just like me who are not.
We live in a society where there are dishonest people in all spheres of life. Especially in this post '9/11' world "undignified" searches are becoming far more common and we all have to subject ourselves to a bit more hassle to ensure security. I am certain that if these same attorneys get to Miami International Airport and US Customs require a body search they would not hesitate to comply.
I am, etc.,
RICARDO SMALLING
Mahoe Drive, Kingston
rhamim@mailja.com
Counsel should
co-operate but...
THE EDITOR, Sir:
WITH REFERENCE to complaints of lawyers being searched at the Horizon Remand Centre, I think they should co-operate in the interest of security.
I know of a fact that in the United States lawyers are not exempted from search even to enter a court on behalf of their clients. These are serious times. The matter is however causing me to remind the relevant authorities including the Prime Minister, the Minister of Security, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice that one of their primary duties is to protect the Constitution which includes civil rights of citizens and to promote civil rights and to take the necessary steps to make illegally obtained evidence inadmissible.
That civil rights is of essence in our democracy and that the state, which is the supreme civil authority recognised by a politically organised people of a given geographical area, is the servant of the people are well-recognised.
The performance of the state must be characterised, therefore, by undying commitment to the maintenance and improvement of civil rights. Existing civil rights were born out of the struggles of countless men and women against autocracy and unmitigated suppression of freedom and denial of dignity of the majority.
If the police need to search, they should do so under authority of law but not arbitrarily, because we should not have a police state.
I am, etc.,
OWEN S. CROSBIE
Mandeville
Let the rules apply to all
THE EDITOR, Sir:
LAWYERS ARE not super human beings, but, if rules and regulations are to be established, all prisons, lock-ups and remand centres should have the same rules and regulations.
Consequently, counsel expect from the police respect, to be treated with dignity and if we are to be searched it must be done in the most comfortable way. Some police officers are well-known for treating counsel with dignity but their colleagues have failed to learn such valuable lessons.
I have no objection to being searched in the context of this corrupt society, once it is done courteously and with humanity.
I remember clearly, at the General Penitentiary, when my handbag was almost torn off me by a senior female officer, who said it was her duty to search. I said nothing to her. Let us work together to let this system work.
I am, etc.,
ELHAM H.M. BOGLE
Attorney-at-Law
Kingston
