The Rise and Rise of Judicial Bigotry reviews racism and bigotry institutionalised in the judicial system and focuses on judges who don't acknowledge their cultural biasis.
After five to seven years of research, the publication of 'The Rise and Rise of Judicial Bigotry' is an extension of Kullili Traditional Owner, Dr Stephen Hagan's PHD research.
"My hypothesis was a nexus between ambiguous race based judicial determinations and community xenophobia. In layman's language, I'm saying that judges who make decisions based on race specifically Aboriginal people who come before them in courts of law." Dr Stephen Hagan Senior Director of Alliance Management at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
Dr Hagan says judges and magistrates are influenced by the society in which they were raised and uses the example of children hearing racist jokes with their families around the table at Christmas time as the starting point of racist thought and the normalisation of racism.
"Children carry those attitudes throughout their years as law students, judges and magistrates", says Dr Hagan.
Listen to the NITV Radio podcast of Dr Stephen Hagan to hear more examples of judicial bigotry in the criminal justice system in Australia.
The book 'The Rise and Rise of Judicial Bigotry' has just been published and prior to the publication of the book Dr Hagan says he had two federal court judges approach him at a conference. One judge told him they had just come from a courthouse and what he described in his paper "Is absolutely correct, I come everyday and judges sitting around and having cups of tea making racist jokes."
"I had a conversation with about 10 Aboriginal magistrate's and one judge in Australia. I spoke to two magistrates in Queensland, they told me that whilst they won't come out in public and make comment on my book they support it one hundred percent cause it's true,' he says 'They know exactly what I 'm talking about, they said I'm glad you're talking about the elephant in the room."-Kullili Traditional Owner, Dr Stephen Hagan.
