#justice for kathleen folbigg

[realasslesbian]

So a lot of people are apparently interested in the Kathleen Folbigg case I posted about earlier and want to know how they can help get justice for this wrongly imprisoned woman:

First and foremost, Kathleen Folbigg was essentially tried in the court of public opinion and sentenced on the back of public condemnation. She remains in prison largely due to the impact of this unrelenting public condemnation. In lieu of the court acknowledging that public opinion has tainted the legal process and taking steps to mitigate that (as they’re legally required to do and often have little trouble doing when it’s a man being tried in court), in lieu of that this is actually one of the few instances where simply being a keyboard warrior will be effective. Most people who condemn Kathleen know little else other than what her ex-husband has said to the Murdoch media. Challenge that. Share her real story. Specifically, sign and share THIS PETITION which was organised by Kathleen’s close friend on the outside, Tracy Chapman, and calls on NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman to immediately pardon and release Kathleen.

Secondly, Kathleen Folbigg is currently being held at the Serco-operated prison; Clarence Correctional Centre. She is often assaulted by other inmates, wherever she is held, and has already received a black eye at her new prison. I'm sure she'd appreciate some outside support. You can write to Kathleen using the following postal address:

Kathleen Folbigg

Locked Bag 3902

South Grafton

NSW 2460

Thirdly, this is actually a very important time for Kathleen, since a second inquiry into her case is currently underway. This is only after hundreds of scientists, doctors, medical professionals, pathologists, etc sent this petition to NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman calling for Kathleen Folbigg’s immediate pardon and release. It took him 14 months to respond to it and instead announce another expensive inquiry. In the process of making that announcement he also made his own opinion pretty clear with statements like ‘members of the public may shake their heads and roll their eyes in disbelief about the number of chances that Ms Folbigg has had to clear her name’ and ‘I have also again spoken with their father Craig Folbigg to inform him about today’s decision; I am deeply sorry that yet again he and his family will have to re-visit their nightmare’. Just in case you thought for a lil moment that the men responsible for Kathleen’s continued wrongful imprisonment might consider some remorse or even just some human decency. But I digress.

Actually I don’t, another recent absurdity is Kathleen’s ex-husband, Craig Folbigg, and his refusal to provide a DNA sample to allow further genetic testing on his four deceased children. This DNA sample could provide key evidence for the most recent inquiry. Craig has been reticent about the reason why he doesn’t want to provide such crucial evidence (but I imagine he knows his DNA might upset his perfect little world, where he’s the victim in all this, and he just wants to forget the troubles his crazy bitch of an ex-wife caused him and live in peace with his new wife who has provided him with the healthy children that Kathleen never could, but that’s none of my business).

In any case, Kathleen Folbigg is up against a lot of men who are intent on causing her misery. She still faces widespread condemnation from the majority of the Australian population. She was originally tried and sentenced on nothing but circumstancial evidence. Since then she has repeatedly proved her innocence, to a much higher legal standard than the flimsy evidence she was originally convicted on. By all reasonable and objective standards Kathleen Folbigg should be immediately pardoned and released. But there is nothing reasonable or objective about how this case has and continues to be handled. The best thing us mere mortals on the side line can do is call attention to this injustice.

Sign the petition to immediately pardon and release Kathleen Folbigg here:

Listen to the Scientists! 155 world experts say free Kathleen Folbigg Now!

Recent updates on Kathleen Folbigg’s case can found here:

Justice for Kathleen Folbigg

[beta-lactam-allergic]

From CNN: Mother wrongly jailed for 20 years over the death of her four children has convictions quashed

Mother wrongly jailed for 20 years over the death of her four children has convictions quashed

About time this finally happened. As an Australian I can say this whole saga had been disgraceful on the part of our legal system. 20 years this woman spent in prison. She was only released a few months back.

They could've released her in the 2019 review after most of our nation's researchers in genetics & biomedical fields signed statements telling the courts that Folbigg's children almost certainly died due to genetic defects. But nope, the legal profession dragged this out for 4 more years rather than admit to being wrong.

[williamchasterson]

Kathleen Folbigg: Misogyny helped jail her, science freed her

Kathleen Folbigg was convicted of killing her four infant children in a stunning miscarriage of justice. from BBC News – World https://ift.tt/qla0jYD via IFTTT

[maniraja1]

Kathleen Folbigg: Misogyny helped jail her, science freed her

Kathleen Folbigg was convicted of killing her four infant children in a stunning miscarriage of justice.

[cryptosecrets]

Australian inquiry asks whether mom smothered her 4 children

Comment on this story Comment SYDNEY — A retired Australian judge investigating the convictions of a mother in the deaths of her four children was told Monday there is a “reasonable hypothesis” that could cast doubt on her guilt. The inquiry by retired New South Wales state Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Bathurst into Kathleen Folbigg’s convictions in 2003 resumed on Monday after a two-day…

[recentlyheardcom]

Australian inquest asks if mum suffocated her 4 children

Australian inquest asks if mum suffocated her 4 children

Comment this story Comment CANBERRA, Australia — An Australian inquest began on Monday to determine whether a woman convicted more than a decade ago of choking her four children to death might be innocent. The inquest by retired New South Wales Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Bathurst is the second judicial inquiry into Kathleen Folbigg’s 2003 convictions and reflects advances in genetic…

[cleardeersong]

Genetics may free a woman convicted of killing her 4 babies and help other parents explain the unexplainable

(CNN)Kathleen Folbigg has spent the past 18 years in prison for one of the most horrific crimes imaginable: killing all four of her babies.But new scientific evidence suggests that's not what happened.Genomic testing shows at least two of the Australian's babies likely died from a previously undiscovered genetic mutation that led to heart complications -- meaning she may have been wrongfully imprisoned for almost two decades.The finding has prompted 90 scientists -- including two Australian Nobel Laureates -- to ask the governor of New South Wales to pardon Folbigg and let her walk free. If that happens, Folbigg's case will be one of the worst miscarriages of justice in Australian history.The ramifications don't end there.While scientists are still learning about the causes of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) -- an umbrella term for when children die suddenly from unexplained causes -- the findings in Folbigg's case may help other parents who are grieving the unexpected loss of their own children. สล็อตฟรีสปิน

[realasslesbian]

Wanted to take a minute to talk about another unpopular woman; Australia’s ‘worst female serial killer’, Kathleen Folbigg. Kathleen is currently halfway through her 40 year prison sentence for the ‘murder’ of her four children. There was no physical evidence that the children were murdered. The only ‘evidence’ was her private diary entries where she expressed frustration as a mother (and later grief for the unexplained deaths of her children, but those later parts were redacted from the sentencing court). In any case, in my opinion as a lawyer, there certainly wasn’t enough evidence to prove anything beyond reasonable doubt, which is the minimum legally required standard in an Australian criminal court.

Essentially what happened was that Kathleen had four children, each of who died inexplicably while they were infants, which was very sad, but also not unheard of, some couples just struggle to have kids. Where this went south for Kathleen was when her (now ex) husband took it upon himself to read her diaries and (perhaps out of the rage of a man whose woman is not producing healthy heirs for him) took those diaries straight to the police and proclaimed his wife had murdered their children. Now, the man had no actual evidence of this. He had a hand full of cherry-picked sentences in a couple of tomes worth of diary entries. But that didn’t matter, because he’s a man, so he didn’t need actual evidence to back up his murder accusations against a woman. 

The media were absolutely delighted to take up this story with lurid headlines about Australia’s Worst Female Serial Killer (especially since she had the whole backstory with being in the foster system most of her life, after her father murdered her mother when she was 18 months old). Before long the entire population of Australia was foaming at the mouth to punish this woman and she was indeed punished. She was convicted of murder in three of four counts, entirely on the basis of circumstancial evidence. No murder confessions. No murder weapon. No forensic reports positively confirming abuse and/or murder. Just some cherry-picked diary entries. That was considered enough to prove murder beyond reasonable doubt and sentence this woman to forty years in prison.

So Kathleen’s spent a couple decades in prison over this, all the while maintaining her innocence. She’s been through several appeals to prove her innocence, each time the judge basically just says ‘lol nah’ and sends her back to jail. We’ve come to the point where the bodies of her children have been exhumed so that they could undergo modern forensic examination and, whaddyaknow, turns out they all have genetic and/or medical conditions that would explain their deaths as infants. 

Unfortunately, I still have little hope for any justice for Kathleen, since the ever-increasing tome of medical evidence proving that she’s innocent has largely fallen on the deaf ears of (male) judges during each of her appeals. Apparently some half-wit doctor at the local morgue stating ‘I can’t find a cause of death so it’s probably murder’ is more convincing than years of medical, forensic and genetic testing on these four kids and the thousands of medical professionals calling for Kathleen Folbigg’s immediate release. At this point I’m not sure what amount of evidence it’s going to take for these men to admit that maybe there is some reasonable doubt to be had.

Anyway, just thought I’d have a lil rant about it, because this case has always pissed me off as a lawyer and as a feminist. Especially because it gets so little coverage in Australia. So yeah.

[realasslesbian]

So Kathleen Folbigg's ex-husband is apparently 'dismayed and devastated' by her pardon and release from prison and bro, we get it, you gotta cover your ass, after your kids all died of natural causes, and rather than just grieving with your wife like a normal person, you were apparently raised to believe women are to blame for everything, so you chose to frame your innocent wife for murder, and get her locked up for two decades, over some cherry-picked pages you ripped out her diary, presented to the police, and proclaimed that these thoughts of a grief-stricken mother wondering if she was somehow responsible for her dying kids was proof she murdered them, and then while the mother of your kids was rotting in jail, you went and got yourself a baby mama that could give you the healthy kids you wanted, and then just sat back and lapped up all the sympathy for being the poor ex-husband of 'Australia's worst female serial killer', and then when your plot started coming apart at the seams, and investigators were asking if you might provide your DNA just on the off-chance your kids might have inherited something from you, you were like 'nope no siree idgaf how quick, easy, costless, etc you make it I'm not giving my DNA, why, bc I don't want to is why', which resulted in an innocent woman languishing in prison for a further several years, until science eventually got to the point it didn't need your DNA to prove she was innocent (and let's just clarify a criminal proceeding should never have to get to the point we're proving someone is innocent, it should always be innocent until proven guilty, beyond all reasonable doubt, which was certainly never the standard of evidence reached in Kathleen's case), so now after decades of the government perverting justice to support your word about the wrongs of a woman, decades of senior government officials bemoaning with you about how terrible it is your wife has maintained her innocence and keeps wasting everyone's time with her silly little appeals, decades of people falling over themselves to print your sob story, now after decades of being the poster child for hard done by Aussie Battler, you're now getting a little taste of what Kathleen has had to go through, now people are asking questions about you, but dw even if there was any solid evidence of your malfeasance in this, even if you wrote in your diary wondering whether you were somehow responsible for your wife being locked up for life, don't worry about, because there's no risk of your male ass going to jail or suffering any consequences at all, so how about you just take a knee, show some grace, shut the fuck up and leave this innocent woman alone? It's the least you could do.