Nationwide Support For
'Rebel' Magistrate
Source: Cambridge Evening News
Date: April 19 2007
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REBEL magistrate Alan Williams says he has been overwhelmed by nationwide
support since resigning in protest at new Government fines for offenders.
Mr Williams told the News of his surprise at the backing he has received from
colleagues and the public since refusing to impose the £15 "victims'
surcharge" during a case at Ely Magistrates' Court.
And the 60-year-old from Burwell believes the magistrates' revolt will
continue.
The Government says the surcharge will fund support services for the victims of
serious crimes, particularly domestic violence, but many magistrates argue it
penalises minor offenders for unrelated crimes like speeding.
Members of the public have declared strong support for Mr Williams on websites,
while a JP from Lincolnshire and one from Cumbria have followed his lead by
resigning.
The other JP on the three-person bench in Ely who backed Mr Williams, Colonel
Johnny Kay, has not resigned and will go before the advisory committee for
Cambridgeshire magistrates. He could then be referred to the Office for
Judicial Complaints and sacked.
Mr Williams, a former deputy chairman of the East Cambridgeshire bench, said:
"There are many other magistrates who feel equally strongly. I spoke to
one person in Cornwall who is considering whether to resign. It is not the end
of the story.
"I felt I had no alternative but to resign. Other magistrates are staying
within the service in order to apply pressure to get the thing changed. I think
both views are legitimate, but I did not feel I had the luxury of staying on.
"The support has been overwhelming - it has been very gratifying. It shows
the issue has hit a public nerve. So many people are commenting on it."
Although Mr Williams is pleased the issue has been brought to wider attention,
he does not believe the Government will listen to magistrates' concerns.
He said: "The past history of this Government is that they tend not to
take any notice of anyone, even when they are demonstrably wrong."
Since Mr Williams resigned after refusing to impose the surcharge on a young
man fined for possessing a small amount of cannabis, Judith Johnson has stepped
down from her role as a JP in Barrow-in-Furness and Christopher Foster has done
the same in Boston.
Mr Foster, 63, said: "I think it is unfair because it is a tax, not a
fine. I'm not a tax collector."
Mr Williams has also stirred up unrest in normally laid-back quarters.
Dilys Wood, a spokeswoman for the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, said: "We
can only hope that all magistrates and judges faced with imposing this unfair
and unjust surcharge will accept that cannabis possession is a crime without
victims, and follow the example of Mr Williams by resigning in protest."
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/
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