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Newcastle Herald

Michael Parris

Bail laws are not about guilt and punishment

Brett Button Brett Andrew Button

Magistrate Robyn Richardson drew on an important tenet of the Bail Act when releasing Maitland bus driver Brett Andrew Button from custody in Cessnock Local Court on Tuesday.

The role of the state's bail laws, which have a history of being hijacked by politicians, is not to assess guilt nor punish the accused. Trials and sentencing hearings are the domain of these aspects of the law.

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