Marchand might have added 'Philology' immediately after 'Archaeology', as her work centres on a fin de siecle battle of the books: were the burgers to parse lapidary prose or dig and delve for Attic marbles and Thuringian clay pots (with government funding to follow). I'd have preferred some comparative analysis, looking at for example the decline and fall of philology - classical or otherwise (Tolkien & Co going cow-eyed over Saxon or Middle English rather than Latin hexameters) - in France, the UK and US, but authors legitimately write their books rather than your own.
McSherry & Keyzer build their argument around three offenders, including Dennis Ferguson (whose crimes, media exploitation and ministerial jellyback inspired special legislation in NSW earlier this year). Some concerns regarding treatment of the odious Mr Ferguson have been highlighted in this blog, for example here; one doesn't have to like him in order to feel disquiet about legal populism.
Meanwhile the ABC reports claims that the United Motorcycle Council in South Australia has complained that SA police have given anti-consorting orders to all members of the Finks motorcycle club, an affinity group sometimes dubbed an outlaw motorcycle gang (OMG) or bikie gang.
The Council decries the orders - reportedly issued to every Fink, including those with no criminal record - as "another attempt to silence them". The orders, described as being in the form of letters, were hand-delivered to 46 members of the Finks. Their statutory basis appears to be the Serious & Organised Crime (Control) Act 2008 (SA), highlighted recently in this blog and shortly to be contested in the High Court after an adverse decision by the SA Supreme Court in Totani & Anor v The State of South Australia [2009] SASC 301.
The Council is reported as claiming that the orders make it illegal for club members to associate with each other more than six times in a year, whether electronically or in person. South Australian police confirm that some letters were sent (I have visions of earnest young constables chasing grim-looking bikies to hand over an envelope) and indicate that the bikies were only warned that they may be subject to criminal prosecution if they continue associating with each other. The letters reportedly explain the Act in detail and invite recipients to get legal advice.
Move away from the ABC coverage and there's a bit more nuance.
The SA Police media release of lunchtime 8 December states that "Control Orders have not been served on members of the Finks Motorcycle Club". It goes on to indicate that
On Friday 4th December 2009, police provided notices to members of the Finks Motorcycle Club outlining the provisions of Section 35 of the Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act 2008 (SOCCA). These provisions apply to Finks MC members as members of a declared organisation. The notices set out: - That police believe the recipient to be a member of the Finks MC - That the Finks MC had been declared pursuant to the SOCCA Act - That Section 35 creates an offence in respect of associating with a member of a declared organisation. The notices also pointed out the exceptions listed in the Act and invited the recipient to obtain legal advice if they were in doubt about their position. The provision of notices to members was to assist in the clear understanding of the application of the SOCCA legislation.A spokesperson for the Council, in a nice display of street theatre, lamented that -
Some of us work together, some of us are godfathers and godparents, you know, we've got a Christmas show coming up this Saturday and basically that'll be getting cancelled which obviously is disappointing for the kids because Santa comes down and hands out presents to the kids each year, so very disappointing.The children of such a philanthropic organisation are presumably tough enough to cope when Santa doesn't appear on his Harley with an underclothed female companion on the pillion.
