This blog is about good news in hard places. This week, while the man whose story is told here has had something of a good outcome, this is not a good news story. It is about the adverse effects the bail laws of New South Wales have on some of the most vulnerable people in our community. It raises the question of justice and how Christians can better advocate for justice in our community.

When he retired from politics, the former Premier Bob Carr, said one of his proudest moments in office was changing the bail laws from presumption in favour of bail to presumption against. With this change the remand population in NSW went from 700 to 2,000 overnight.

In the Remand Centre at Silverwater I met Ivan who was arrested on fraud charges. A very complicated business deal had gone wrong and the people he had been negotiating with called the police. Not making bail, Ivan was sent to the Remand Centre, a maximum security jail with 950 inmates. The normal routine here is that inmates are locked in their cells at 3.30 in the afternoon until 8.30 the following morning. This made it very difficult for Ivan to mount a defence.

It was the most stressful time he had ever experienced. He gained some support by coming to weekly chapel. But every day was full of tension as the police built their case. Ivan tried to gain access to all his records and find a barrister who understood all the implications of the financial issues involved and who would be able to explain them to a jury of lay people. He was in the fight of his life for eighteen months before his case came to trial.

Ivan was found not guilty. “Thank you very much. You can go home now.” Ivan had no home to go to. He had lost everything trying to fight to prove his innocence. A friend gave him a spare room. He went to bed and couldn’t get up. Ivan was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.

Ivan’s is not an unusual story. Inevitably serious crimes take eighteen months to two years to come to a resolution. All this time, a prisoner on remand, innocent by definition until proven guilty, is incarcerated in a maximum security jail.

Greg Smith, the New South Wales Attorney General has made noises about addressing these bail laws. As people who know what real justice is about, Christians have a unique place to stand with and advocate for those who are marginalised by the current bail laws in NSW. Will this turn into a real good news story that sees Christians advocating for real justice and NSW refusing to lock people up until they are proven guilty?