A little respect: Swearing, police and criminal justice discourse

© The Author(s) 2018. This article interrogates a commonly articulated idea in relation to the criminalisation of offensive language: namely, that swearing at police challenges their authority and thereby deserves criminal punishment. Drawing on critical discourse analysis, the article examines representations of swearing at police officers in offensive language cases and parliamentary debates, including constructions of power, authority and order. It contributes to—but also denaturalises—conceptions about police power and authority in the context of public order policing. The article argues that criminal justice discourse plays a significant and often under‐acknowledged role in naturalising the punishment of swearing at, or in the presence of, police officers

Cheap and Efficient Justice? Neoliberal Discourse and Criminal Infringement Notices

Criminal infringement notices (CINs) are now a familiar component of the criminal justice system, especially in the policing of public order and minor offences. Successive Australian state and territory governments have implemented CIN schemes with the objective of reducing administrative demands and trial backlogs, cutting down on paperwork, freeing up police time, saving costs and keeping police ‘on the beat’. This article examines how CINs have been rationalised on the basis of neoliberal economic values, which have overshadowed ordinary criminal justice concerns of morality and responsibility. It focuses on the introduction of criminal code infringement notices in Western Australia for two offences: disorderly behaviour, and steal anything up to the value of $500. The author argues that there is a need to recognise—and to resist—the encroachment of neoliberal economisation discourses into the realm of criminal law

Is the subtropical jet shifting poleward?

The tropics are expanding poleward at about 0.5∘ per decade in observations. This poleward expansion of the circulation is consistently reported using Hadley cell edge metrics and lower-atmospheric tropical edge metrics. However, some upper-atmospheric tropical metrics report smaller trends that are often not significant. One such upper-atmospheric metric is the subtropical jet latitude, which has smaller trends compared to the Hadley cell edge. In this study we investigate the robustness of the weak trends in the subtropical jet position by introducing a new method for locating the subtropical jet, and examining the trends and variability of the subtropical jet latitude. We introduce the tropopause gradient method based on the peak gradient in potential temperature along the dynamic tropopause. Using this method we find the trends in the subtropical jet latitude are indeed much smaller than 0.5∘ per decade, consistent with previous studies. We also find that natural variability within the subtropical jet latitude would not prevent trends from being detected if they were similar to the Hadley cell edge, as trends greater than 0.24∘ per decade could reliably be detected using monthly data or 0.09∘ per decade using daily data. Despite the poleward expansion of the tropics, there is no robust evidence to suggest the subtropical jet is shifting poleward in either hemisphere. Neither the current diagnostic methods nor natural variability can account for the small subtropical jet trends. The most likely explanation, which requires further investigation, is that the subtropical jet position is not tied dynamically to the Hadley cell edge

There is no need for anyone to be concerned”: The discursive legitimation of coercive police powers during the COVID-19 pandemic

A number of countries have placed police officers in charge of policies aimed at suppressing the transmission of COVID-19. While scholarly attention has been paid to the legitimacy of a law enforcement response to the pandemic, less attention has been paid to the discursive techniques used by state officials when attempting to represent controversial policies as uncontroversial. This article examines the role of discourse in the rationalization of a law enforcement approach to the COVID-19 pandemic in NSW, Australia. I conduct a critical analysis of the language of policing officials in press conferences, interviews, and media releases to identify discursive strategies of authorization, moral evaluation, and rationalization, as described in Van Leeuwen’s analytical framework of legitimation (2007, 2008). I argue that the use of discursive techniques to depict punitive sanctions as desirable and effective, and public health rules as clear and of equal application to all, helped to naturalize a coercive response in the application of public health measures. The naturalness of this police-led approach is deconstructed by drawing on alternative accounts to show how COVID-19 rules were complicated and poorly communicated, and policed in an uneven, and at times, overzealous fashio

Serious Crime Prevention Orders

Successive reforms in New South Wales (‘NSW’) have established far-reaching powers to curtail the liberties of those who were once convicted of various serious sexual and violent offences. Now, these powers have been significantly expanded, with the Executive Government asserting the ability to control the free movement, speech, association and work of NSW citizens and businesses via Serious Crime Prevention Orders (‘SCPOs’) under the Crimes (Serious Crime Prevention Orders) Act 2016 (NSW). This Comment surveys substantive and procedural aspects of SCPOs. We situate the orders as part of a continuing expansion of administrative detention and supervision regimes of a hybrid, quasi-criminal nature. We question whether the powers go too far by increasing the State’s powers to surveil and control a person’s or business’s activities under the justification of preventing crime. We also canvass the possibility that SCPOs will operate in a punitive (not merely preventative) manner

The counter-propagating Rossby-wave perspective on baroclinic instability. Part IV: Nonlinear life cycles

Pairs of counter-propagating Rossby waves (CRWs) can be used to describe baroclinic instability in linearized primitive-equation dynamics, employing simple propagation and interaction mechanisms at only two locations in the meridional plane—the CRW ‘home-bases’. Here, it is shown how some CRW properties are remarkably robust as a growing baroclinic wave develops nonlinearly. For example, the phase difference between upper-level and lower-level waves in potential-vorticity contours, defined initially at the home-bases of the CRWs, remains almost constant throughout baroclinic wave life cycles, despite the occurrence of frontogenesis and Rossby-wave breaking. As the lower wave saturates nonlinearly the whole baroclinic wave changes phase speed from that of the normal mode to that of the self-induced phase speed of the upper CRW. On zonal jets without surface meridional shear, this must always act to slow the baroclinic wave. The direction of wave breaking when a basic state has surface meridional shear can be anticipated because the displacement structures of CRWs tend to be coherent along surfaces of constant basic-state angular velocity, U. This results in up-gradient horizontal momentum fluxes for baroclinically growing disturbances. The momentum flux acts to shift the jet meridionally in the direction of the increasing surface U, so that the upper CRW breaks in the same direction as occurred at low level

Understanding age-related changes: exploring the interplay of protein intake, physical activity and appetite in the ageing population

Globally, we are currently facing a rapid demographic shift leading to an increase in the proportion of older adults within the population. This raises concerns about the potential increase in age-related diseases and their impact on our ability to provide adequate health and end-of-life care. To apply appropriate interventions, understanding the changes that happen with ageing becomes essential. Ageing is often accompanied by a decrease in appetite and physical activity, which may lead to malnutrition, resulting in decreased muscle mass, physical capabilities and independence. To preserve muscle mass, older adults are advised to increase protein intake and physical activity. However, protein’s high satiating effect may cause reduced energy intake. Physical activity is also advised to maintain or enhance older adult’s appetite. This review paper aims to discuss appetite-related changes that occur with ageing and their consequences. In particular, it will focus on investigating the relationship between protein intake and physical activity and their impact on appetite and energy intake in the ageing population. Recent studies suggest that physical activity might contribute to maintaining or enhancing appetite in older adults. Nevertheless, establishing a definitive consensus on the satiating effect of protein in ageing remains a work in progress, despite some promising results in the existing literature

Linking extreme precipitation in Southeast Asia to equatorial waves

Equatorially trapped waves, such as Kelvin Waves, Equatorial Rossby Waves and Westward-moving Mixed Rossby-Gravity (WMRG) Waves, play a major role in organizing tropical convection on synoptic to sub-seasonal timescales. These waves have the potential to provide an important source of predictability for high impact weather in Southeast (SE) Asia and the tropics more widely. To aid understanding of the role played in high impact weather by such waves, the observed statistical relationship between identified equatorial waves and heavy rainfall in SE Asia is examined for the period 1998-2016. Increases in the amount of precipitation and the likelihood of extreme precipitation in SE Asia are linked to all three types of waves that are included in analysis; Kelvin, equatorial Rossby and WMRG waves. There is both increased mean rainfall and increased probability of occurrence of heavy rainfall on days when high amplitude waves propagate over SE Asia. In particular, heavy precipitation can be up to three times more likely in regions of SE Asia during equatorial waves, including Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Kelvin waves have a large influence on heavy rainfall over Indonesia, WMRG and Kelvin waves impact Malaysia rainfall, and equatorial Rossby and WMRG waves are linked to increased rainfall over the Philippines. Based on this study it can be concluded that the probability of extreme precipitation in this region is dependent on equatorial wave activity. Therefore, the skill in probabilistic prediction of extreme precipitation in SE Asia would be expected to be conditional on the skill in equatorial wave prediction, and the modelled relationship between equatorial waves and convection