Federal Judge Orders Halt to NSA Wiretapping

Dan Eggen of the Washington Post reports at 5.18 pm EST

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor wrote in a strongly-worded 43-page opinion that the NSA wiretapping program violates privacy and free-speech rights and the constitutional separation of powers between the three branches of government. She also found that it violates a 1978 law set up to oversee clandestine surveillance.

"Obviously, of course I'm disappointed," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said at a briefing for reporters. "I believe very strongly that the president does have the authority to authorize this kind of conduct, particularly in a time of war, conduct that's very consistent with what other presidents have done in a time of war. And we believe the authority comes from the authorization to use military force and from his constitutional authority as commander in chief."

Of course the little runt is unhappy, 43 pages of legal arguyment to upset his tawdry script that the President casn do any goddam thing he wants, because there is a "War on terror".

"Today's ruling is a landmark victory against the abuse of power that has become the hallmark of the Bush administration," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "Government spying on innocent Americans without any kind of warrant and without congressional approval runs counter to the very foundations of our democracy."

He called the ruling "yet another nail in the coffin of the Bush administration's strategy in the war on terror. . . . The judge very clearly points out that this, at its core, is about presidential powers."

Three cheers for Democracy and the separation of powers!!!!

NI 'must get after-school money'

PlayBoard in Northern Ireland runs about 200 out-of-school clubs (there are 237 voluntary schemes at present) which are under threat of closure because of a lack of funding. European and lottery money has almost run out and the UK government has not earmarked any specific funding says a BBC report.

Playboard (with 24 full time staff) said NI's voluntary out-of-school sector was now "in real danger of being virtually wiped out".

"It is a cruel irony that Ruth Kelly is announcing expansion of such provision in England, while almost all voluntary out of school clubs here are struggling to survive," said chief executive Marguerite Hunter Blair.
"We urgently need some of that cash."

The government says ( for the 2nd time) it is putting £680m into encouraging more schools in England to set up breakfast and after-school clubs. Closure would mean "parents losing jobs, especially those on low incomes", says Mrs Hunter Blair Chief Executive of Playboard.
"Northern Ireland has the highest rate of child poverty in the UK. Our after school clubs are helping to tackle that problem - so why is the government forcing so many clubs in Northern Ireland to close"?

She also said in the 2004 Playboard Annual report …” I was delighted to attend a reception at 10 Downing Street in September to celebrate Childcare, at the Prime Minister and Cherie Blair’s invitation. This provided me with a wonderful opportunity to lobby at the highest level about the importance of Play and PlayCare in Northern Ireland. Very useful contacts were made with senior Policy Advisors from the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit in Downing Street, who have been very supportive.

SDLP education spokesman Dominic Bradley said the Treasury had plenty of resources to put into education in England while education in Northern Ireland was "being starved of resources".

Northern Ireland education minister, Angela Smith, who is already under intense pressure to find more money for cash-strapped schools - is expected to respond that her cupboard is bare says the Guradian today.

If you want to see the complete Government policy announced by Ruth Kelly (see BBC pic) it can be found here Extended schools prospectus .pdf (462KB)

These are the people who promised you "joined up" Government.

Stop calling them "Yobs" says Chairman of YJB

The government's chief adviser on youth crime has called on politicians and the media to stop calling children 'yobs' and warned that Britain risks demonising a generation of young people.

Professor Rod Morgan is the chairman of the Youth Justice Board, he claims that the Government sends out contradictory messages about its attitude to children. On the one hand, children represented the country's aspirations for the future in sport and music, on the other, they were being condemned by the Prime Minister as thugs in hooded tops.

'We use the word "yob" without distinguishing between very young children - who haven't chosen their parents, their neighbourhoods or their circumstances and can't walk away from them - and young adults,' he said. 'I don't think the word "yob" should ever be used in relation to young children.'

He urged politicians to stop announcing 'quick fix' policies rather than getting to grips with the crisis of youth custody, which has seen a 90 per cent increase in recent years.

Morgan's comments come after seemingly endless Gubment announcements aimed at showing the public that it is 'cracking down' on bad behaviour.

The Youth Justice Board is an independent body ministerial advisory body on young people in the criminal justice system. Morgan, the former chief inspector of probation and an internationally respected expert on crime, is known to be angry that 75% of the £390 million budget is spent on providing custodial places rather than on community sentences or early intervention.

Frank Field thinking what I'm thinking

Frank Field MP gave the Eleanor Rathbone Memorial Lecture at the University of Liverpool on 9 December 2004. He said that the rise of ‘yobbish behaviour’ was due to the failure of an increasing number of families to impart social skills to their children. He said that the government’s policy of driving mothers with young children out to work was one reason for increased levels of anti-social behaviour, and urged that attention be focussed on ‘the pivotal role of motherhood in producing the kind of citizens necessary for a peaceable kingdom’.

“The government sees work as the antidote to many of the social problems inflicted upon us. It does so without ever giving a hint that when and how we work might be a cause of some of the problems themselves.

“At the moment most mothers with young children have to work irrespective of what their emotions and instincts tell them.”

“Most children are best nurtured by one of their parents in the first two years of their lives. While some fathers have the skills to nurture, and while others might acquire such skills by great diligence, the truth is that the nurturing of their young is natural to most women…

“Children…need the active support of two parents and, where possible, grandparents. To state an obvious truth is not to attack those families who do not fit this pattern. It is rather to break into the cycle where our silence acts against what children have a right to expect and what both parents have a duty to meet.”

Words to ponder when listening to Ruth Kelly explaining how the State is nationalising our children. 8am-6pm then home and in in time for curfew at 9.00pm
Childhood ?

Get to know your local Police

Visit the Gwent Police website to see how they inform the public, entertain them, recruit, re-enact the Confederate Army , meet the Paratroopers, and all manner of exciting events, displays and other attractions that they have planned to make the Gwent Police Open Day a fun day out for all the family.

It's over for this year - why don't we do this here ?

Deeply Vale Festival 2006

Planning is well under way. Go to Website to buy tickets NOW

Conference on adolescent binge drinking

The American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) will host a web-based conference to discuss the significant and growing public health problem of adolescent binge drinking. Adolescents and Binge Drinking: A Clinical Approach, developed under a cooperative agreement with the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau, will be held June 14, 2005, from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. ET at Medscape from WebMD.(In most place in the US you have to be 21 to drink alcohol in licensed premises - get killed in Iraq, defending Afghan warlords growing poppies - but don't touch the demon drink boyah!)

The conference will feature an overview of the epidemiology of binge drinking, including identifying use patterns and trends, and the risks associated with this type of substance use. The speakers will explain the biological substrates that make adolescents uniquely susceptible to alcohol and how underage binge drinking can occur independent of alcohol addiction.

Participants of this conference will learn how to ask adolescents about their alcohol use behavior and know what to ask, how to build trust with their adolescent patients, and the health consequences of adolescent binge drinking.
For details of conference For information on adolescent binge drinking ... if you want to frighten yourself

Ruth Kelly to re hash plans for extended school hours

Ruth Kelly, who was educated at the very expensive Westminster School , ("Old Westminsters" include Tony Benn, Martha Lane - Fox, Matt Frei, Helena Bonham Carter etc. etc.,) will announce (again) plans on for an extended schools hours scheme on Monday, under plans which could see English state day schools staying open for pupils from 8am to 6pm.

The £680 million Government programme would enable all children under 14 to join in extra- curricular activities by 2010.

Primary and Secondary schools will be required to provide activities to pupils which may include sports, language tuition, music and art groups and breakfast clubs.

Teachers would not be required to supervise activities outside lesson time, with responsibility instead falling on volunteers or private companies.

The Education secretary will visit a London primary school (Not thought to be the Junior Westminster Scool) to announce these measures and has released a statement carried by the press on Sunday. "The best schools are delivering extended services already."

"They know that children will be better placed to achieve their full potential if they are in child care that allows them to complete their homework, keep fit and healthy and have fun."

This is of coure a re-run of the pre election claims of Ruth Kelly on April 27th when she told an election Press conference that providing "extended schools" would be a duty on local education authorities. At the time she mentioned the figure of £680m for the scheme in England. She told journalists (BBC report ) one block of £250m over the next 2 years would be spent, she said this was in the Budget last month on further questioning it appears that this money is “money direct to the school and the head teacher to spend on the school's priorities".

Helped by a spin doctor it was pointed out that the full Budget document had said this extra was specifically "to help schools meet the challenges that provision of extended services involves in the shorter-term".

Ruth Kelly (members of Opus Hey! — the support group for Government ministers with special needs) also told reporters there would be another £430m, between 2006 and 2008, if Labour were re-elected: "new money, that we are allocating now to extended school provision" and outlined the details to be announced again tomorrow.

Asked who would run extended schools, she said "we are not talking about teachers - this is not something extra that we are imposing upon them". It might be, for example, a French assistant taking a French group or a university teacher showing a science club how to make nuclear weapons.

It would be "an explicit duty on local authorities" to secure the necessary facilities.

"They will want to work with schools and it will be up to schools to volunteer for that," she said - perhaps working as a group locally to offer a range of clubs.

But if they chose not to, it would be up to the local authority to find other providers.

The pledge was that all children would have access to the activities - "no more latch-key kids" - rather than that all schools would offer them.

The Teaching Unions response will be interesting … especially to the concept of handing over teaching and care activities to volunteers and third party companies.

Steve Sinnott, the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers is already on record saying that insufficient funds are available.

Shadow education secretary David Cameron also welcomed the plans but expressed concern over how they would be funded.

“We’ve seen what happens before when they announce worthy initiatives without providing money to support them – resulting in a funding crisis and lots of broken promises.

Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Edward Davey said the Government had “finally woken up to the needs of pupils and parents”.

“These plans sound promising but Ruth Kelly will need to answer questions on funding"

For anyone interested, the fuelling requirements of Westminster School pupils are as follows ...
7.50 am Breakfast is served in College Hall (originally the dining room of the Abbot of Westminster c. 1600).
Lunch (organised by Houses).
During the lunch hour only pupils in the two final years are free to leave the precincts without permission. Otherwise there are various activities, orchestral and choir rehearsals, and an opportunity to meet with Housemasters, Tutors and other teachers.
4.15 pm Tea is available every day for boarders and day pupils in College Hall or Grant’s Dining Room. Between tea and supper time most of the Lower School Activities take place and meetings of Upper School Societies are arranged.
6.00 pm Supper.

Fees ? Well.... £18,000 a year for starters ...out of taxed income plus. plus, plus...

The Rise of the Yobbocracy - well hard Gubment at work

Over 100 special zones are identified as part of a summer-time zero-tolerance crackdown against drug-taking, underage drinking and alcohol-related violence in cities throughout England. Curfews will be imposed, allowing police to clear groups of youths from the street after 9pm.

An Independent on Sunday investigation reveals that police are rushing to apply for special licences, which ban troublemakers from specific areas with the threat of fines of £2,500 or a prison sentence for anyone breaking the curfew.

A third of these zones will be in London with others in Manchester and Liverpool. Bristol will have 10 zones in place this summer and Liverpool more than 20.

The anti-yob action follows violent incidents involving teenage gangs including the so-called "happy slapping" craze.

Ministers unveiled their legislative blueprint to curb violent crime and disorder last week. This included banning drunken youths from pubs and bars for up to two years, closing down pubs and shops caught selling alcohol to children and new penalties on the use and sales of knives and guns.

It is understood ministers are also planning a major U-turn on teenage-friendly proposals to provide more leisure opportunities and outlets where they can socialise in the evenings. The Youth Green Paper, due for publication later this year, will be edited reflecting Government's claimed tough stance on yob-related behaviour and emphasises the need for "respect" among young people.

Reform groups warn that the new "anti-yobbery" measures, including dispersal orders, are unworkable and draconian and will lead to the jailing of increasing numbers of young people.

Rob Allen, a member of the Youth Justice Board, said that dispersal orders were not a solution. "All you end up doing is displacing the problem," said Mr Allen, director of International Centre for Prison Studies at King's College London."The danger is that all these measures end up as a fast track into custody."

International Centre for Prison Studies - Prison is never appropriate for children

Professor Andrew Coyle, the director of the International Centre for Prison Studies, 10th August 2004 said that prison "is never an appropriate location" for children.

He said: "There are more juveniles in prison custody in England and Wales than in any other country in Western Europe. The treatment of juveniles in detention in England and Wales has been criticised by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, which has expressed concern about the number of children who have sustained injuries as a result of restraints and measures of control applied in prison and about the placement of children in solitary confinement in prisons. Prison is never an appropriate location for children."

Nacro - We have an over-punitive approach to children in trouble

Paul Cavadino, chief executive of the crime reduction charity Nacro, also said (on the same day) that the death in custody of 14-year-old Adam Rickwood signalled that "some of the most vulnerable children in society are currently being held in state custody."

He added: "We call on the Government to set up an urgent review of the system for dealing with children who offend. We have an over-punitive approach to children in trouble and pay too little attention to the welfare needs of serious and persistent young offenders and the root causes of their problems. 27 children have died in state custody since 1990. The Government must act now if lessons are to be learnt and further deaths prevented."

Interfering old busybodies .....what do they know ? Of course we can just ignore them......

QUARANTEEN

Thornton, Lancs, is a popular retirement area but yobs have made the centre a no go area for the elderly. Wyre Borough Council has issued a Dispersal Order / Curfew which will initially last for six months on all (approx 1,200) under 16’s – said to be first such order in the UK.

PC Ari Lewis, the community beat manager for the region, said: "We have tried to speak to the youngsters to tell them the problems they are causing but it doesn't seem to get through to them."
"We want to give the town back to the decent citizens and business owners of Thornton."

Anyone who is caught breaking the order twice within 24 hours will be arrested.

Councillor Lynne Bowen is reported by the Mirror saying "Local residents have become very stressed about this. If it works we shall look to extend it to other towns."

Summer is a cumin in ... what self respecting 15 year old wants to go out ? Especially when they could stay in.

Pub Watch scheme in Middleton

With money from the Middleton Communit Disorder Partnership for radio equipment, a Pub Watch scheme has been introduced in 35 pubs in Middleton. This will help landlords and Police to enforce laws on behaviour and make it safer for the public.

The radio equipment provides direct contact to patrolling police vehicles to initiate a swift response to trouble.(Presumably mobile phones are not good enough ?)

Trouble makers can be referred to the Acceptable Behaviour Scheme. This is a joint committee of licensees, police and licensing officers who can recommend action ranging from written warnings to a 2 year local pub ban. Which is enforced by circulating photographs and names of offenders.

Glenys Paterson, Watch Scheme Advisor at glenys.paterson@gmp.police.uk or telephone 0161 856 9859 for more info.

Rochdale Community centres to lose £100K ... reports

COMMUNITY Centres will open with reduced hours , services, classes if reports that Rochdale Council has slashed £100,000 from their budgets are true - or cannot be reversed. 8 centres are said to be affected.

Councillor Colin Lambert is reported in the Rochdale Observer saying: “Unfortunately, the council is going to have to make some very unpopular decisions in this term. We will have to wait until after Friday’s meetings to discuss what options are open to us in terms of where the cuts will take place.”

Council manager Ann Tipton said: “The council’s cabinet meeting on 31 May approved a proposal to reduce the overall grants to community centres across the borough by £100,000.

“Senior officers of the local authority will be meeting with representatives of community centres in receipt of grants to discuss how to achieve this.”

Rochdale MP Paul Rowen, is reported claiming that 8 centres got letters this week saying the cuts were proposed.

Sohail Ahmed manager of Deeplish Community Centre is reported stating the centre will £12,500 from their £45,000 fund.

Ken Farrar manager at Sparth Community Centre is reported to say they expect to lose £12,500 of his £53,000 fund, (already reduced from £56,000 in April.)

“Unpopular decisions “ Cllr Lambert ? … you bet. Insane? … yes. Community .. sense of …. Great thing for Councillors to talk about …. Let’s hold a sweepstake where the next CCTV cameras location will be …..

Dispersal Orders : Are they the answer ?

Harold Hill & Havering Independent Working Class Association This is a very interesting website that covers a London suburb. Well worth viewing. Thye have report from last year abour the utility of Dispersal Orders :

Hornchurch MP John Cryer asked the Home Office for an assessment of the effectiveness of the Dispersal Order schemes at Elm Park, Hornchurch and Upminster Bridge stations. The indications are that the problems of anti-social behaviour on the eastern end of the District Line have been successfully tackled by what is effect a curfew. Minister Caroline Flint MP said: "Use of dispersal powers under section 30 of the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003, together with other measures, have contributed to a visible fall in the number of groups of youths loitering in stations and causing disorder on the eastern end of the District Line. It has also resulted in a significant reduction in crime." John Cryer said: "I am pleased these new powers have proved so useful." No reasonable person would deny that these Dispersal Orders have in the short term allowed passengers to travel on the District Line and use the stations free from the fear caused by gangs of youths. After all, public transport is an asset for the whole community, not a hangout for disaffected teenagers who want to cause trouble.

However, while we hear a lot about applications for, the implementation and the short term effectiveness of Dispersal Orders, there appears to be little about long term solutions to the problems of disaffected youth. While no one should be rewarded for bad behaviour, there is a need to try and channel the energies of youth into more positive and constructive channels instead of pushing them from one part of the borough to another as is currently the case.

Misbehaving youths do need to be challenged about their behaviour and left in no doubt as to how the wider community feels about the impact their actions have.

They also need to be given an alternative and offered a chance to do something more positive. This involves sustained investment in youth facilities and services - something that is sadly lacking at the moment. If this doesn't happen, one the Dispersal Order has expired, there is every likelihood that the problem will return. This means that a further round of Dispersal Orders will be called for. The result will inevitably be increased tension between youths and the police, increasing the probability of confrontations and disorder. Is it asking too much to have some joined up thinking on this issue for once?

ASBO marks man's card in London

Kevin Seabrook, 38, was jailed for two months at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on May 31 for persistently advertising for prostitutes in telephone boxes – or “carding”.

He was also given an ASBO, so when he is released from prison he will be banned from carrying any material that advertises prostitution or from entering any telephone boxes in England and Wales, except to make emergency calls. If he breaches the order he could face jail for up to five years.
--------------
Note : It is estimated 13 million cards are deposited in Central London phone boxes each year, equating to 250,000 a week, or 35,600 cards a-day. The cards are placed in the boxes on behalf of the girls by people known as ‘carders’ who are frequently students or unemployed. It is a highly lucrative trade and the carders can earn an average of £30 for 100 or £200 per day for between 600 and 700 cards placed. The girls pay for the carders out of their own wages, and with thirteen million of them placed annually, these wages of sin are in the region of £4 million.

The Criminal Justice and Police Act was brought in on 1 September 2001 made displaying vice cards an arrestable and recordable offence. This gives Police authority to take direct action against carders, and those arrested can have their cards seized and destroyed and may face up to £5,000 fine or six months imprisonment.

Caroline Archers book ‘Tart Cards’ is published by Mark Batty Publisher, ISBN 0-9724240-40.
See Home Office Consulatation paper

BLITZ AS DEESIDE POLICE TAKE ON YOBS

Extra police will patrol the streets on Deeside each weekend for the next four weeks and they warn anyone caught breaking the law will be dealt with.

Deeside Inspector Dave Jolly obtained temporary dispersal orders covering four communities blighted by anti-social behaviour earlier this year Connah’s Quay, Garden City, Sandycroft and Sealand Manor after complaints from locals.

This latest campaign is a response to public concerns that yobs are simply being moved from one area to another by the orders.

Insp Jolly said: “This is a zero tolerance campaign that has come about as a result of concerns raised by the residents of Deeside.

“We want to warn any young people that bad behaviour will not be tolerated. I’ve got extra officers on the streets at night, and additional special constables and community safety officers.

... response from residents ..no talk of cameras...they want police on the streets.

ASBO man can be Drunk but not Disorderly

The Daily Mirror reports today a hopeless drunk served with an ASBO that lets him get Drunk but disallows him from being Disorderly.

Alcoholic Charlie R has 219 previous convictions - 147 for being Drunk and Disorderly - He will be locked up if he causes a public nuisance for the next 10 years.

Police considered banning R, 49, of Seaham, Co Durham, from every pub and off-licence in the country. PC Mick Hayton, of the county's Anti-Social Behaviour Order unit, said: "If we prevented him getting access to alcohol, we knew he would die.

Peterlee JPs heard that for at least 15 years Rush had shown no willingness to mend his ways.

Asbo chief rounds on “liberal” critics

Ms Louise Casey, director of the Home Office Anti - Social Behaviour unit, in todays Guradian argues that critics including "youth workers, social workers and the liberal intelligentsia" should accept there is strong public support for the sanctions in addressing "a culture of intimidation". She says critics “are not living in the real world”.

Which is a curious thing to say as ASBO CONCERN (see posts previously) which is the focus of her concern and criticism is supported by over 40 organisation including the National Probation Officers Association, The Howard League for Penal Reform and Liberty.

Chris Stanley, of the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO), said: "Young people don't pre-meditate their crimes and behaviour very often.

"They act on the spur of the moment and they don't think they will end up in custody, so it is not a deterrent. As a result the measure is ineffective."

A new MORI poll on the subject (ordered by BB2) has some fascinating findings which seem to support the results of the recent Rowntree Research Study (see previous posts – which showed 67% of people believe the government's emphasis should be on prevention rather than punishment in tackling antisocial behaviour). Almost half of those questioned by MORI believe the orders are ineffective in preventing people from causing antisocial behaviour. The Mori findings suggest that support for Asbos is strong in part "simply because it highlights that something is being done". While 82% back the orders (including 67% of Guardian readers questioned), only 39% feel they are effective.

But while one in five believes the orders, which apply to children as young as 10 and carry the threat of prison if breached, create more problems than they solve, 70% say they send out a clear message that action will be taken to combat antisocial behaviour.

Ms Casey said "Sometimes I wish people like Asbo Concern and some of the people who write letters to the Guardian could just see it from the point of view of the people in the communities."
Problems of crack houses on inner-city estates could not be addressed by "running enough youth clubs", she added, although it is difficult to find anyone who would suggest that was a plausible, rational or sensible policy.

The government made much of its fight against antisocial behaviour during the general election, boasting that the evidence of almost 4,000 Asbos and nearly 60,000 penalty notices for disorder showed communities could fight back.

Matt Foot, a criminal defence solicitor and coordinator of Asbo Concern, highlights the report by the European human rights commissioner criticising (see previous posts) the government for making Asbos too easy to obtain (only 3% of applications for orders are refused).

Matt Foot also highlighted a study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation indicating that two-thirds of people believe the government's emphasis should be on prevention rather than punishment in tackling antisocial behaviour.

But Matt Foot is also reported (bC Online) ,saying: "We aren't saying that anti-social behaviour doesn't exist, but where people are committing criminal acts they should be dealt with by the criminal law."

He added: "If we are talking about children hanging around in the street, I don't think that should be criminalised, and there are people now in custody for that sort of behaviour."

Alcoholic - ASBO - ASBO breached - Prison ..... where next ?

Jennifer F, 44, living in sheltered accommodation said to be suffering from mental health problems has been jailed for 4 weeks after breaching an Anti-Social Behaviour Order. She is believed to be the first person in Oxford to be imprisoned for breaching an order by drinking alcohol in the city centre. (Feb 2005)

Oxford City Council had applied for an interim ASBO after F was accused of intimidating behaviour towards elderly neighbours in her council accommodation on Whitehouse Road, shouting and screaming abusively and attempting at least one physical attack.

Dennis Kavanagh, prosecuting, accused her of twice flouting the city-wide drinking ban, Ford's defence lawyer Simon Graham-Harrison described her as "a hapless individual with mental health problems."

"In this case, an ASBO was simply not an appropriate way to deal with what is a serious issue. Whether Ms Ford has mental problems or not, she is clearly an alcoholic, whose problems need to be dealt with constructively to prevent the whole scenario occurring again." says Doug Jewell, Liberty Campaigns Co-ordinator.

Steve Kilsby from the Neighbourhood Renewal Business Unit at the City Council, said, "We're all very sympathetic to her case but she was causing extreme distress to other residents.

The cost of keeping this woman in prison ? The chances of re-offending?

Rochdale based wcctv

wcctv are a Rochdale based supplier of wireles CCTV systems. A report on their systems with Rochdale MBC is available here

Violent Crime Reduction Bill hands out new summary powers to PC's

Alvaro Gil-Robles, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, said: "It is difficult to avoid the impression that the ASBO is being touted as a miracle cure for urban nuisance.

"It is to be hoped this burst of Asbo-mania will quieten down , and that it’s use will be limited to appropriate and serious cases, where no other means of intervention might succeed."

"Responsible guidelines and realistic rhetoric is required, however, for this to happen. It is also open to question whether children receiving ASBOSs should be named."(Please note that on this site no photographs of ASBO offenders have been used - although this is common practice in the National Press, including children as young as 10 - in future we will refrain from giving the full names of offenders)

He is quoted in today's Daily Telegraph saying this after details of the Violent Crime Reduction Bill (announced in the Queen's Speech) were published last night by Hazel Blears (see pic).

Police are to be given unprecedented powers to ban individuals from town centres and other locations for up to 48 hours in the latest Government attempt to get to grips with alcohol-fuelled violence and anti-social behaviour.

Under the proposed new law, Police Constables will be able to issue a written exclusion notice to anyone considered to represent a "risk of disorder", even if they are not drunk or have committed no offence.

Hazel Blears, the Home Office minister, conceded that disorder zones and banning orders were a last resort for dealing with a problem that police fear will worsen when flexible drinking hours - including the potential for 24-hour opening - are introduced in England and Wales in November.

She said the prohibition notices, which will carry a £2,500 fine, were intended to send out a "short, sharp" message to young people to behave better.

Those familiar with the history of attempts to control youth crime will be familiar with Borstals (the name of the village in Kent, site of the original establishment)introduced in 1908. In 1982 they were all closed down, and had been replaced by Youth Detention Centres, with fixed term sentences. These had a much tougher régime, called a "short, sharp, shock". However, re-offending rates from these places was just as high as from Borstals.

For comment on Gil Robles report and comments see Shami Chakrabarti Director Liberty in Guradian today

Collins Dictionary defines the new social order

Any chav who misbehaves is likely to get an ``ASBO'' the acronym for the government's anti-social behavior order, which is defined in the new Edition of Collins Dictionary as , "a civil order made against a persistently anti-social individual which restricts his or her activities or movements, a breach of which results in criminal charges.''

Chav ? "a young working-class person who dresses in casual sports clothes". The word's origins may come "from Romany chavi a child.'' The dictionary also includes "chavette,'' the female equivalent, and the adjectives "chavish'' and "chavtastic'' suitable for or designed for chavs.