One Law for All?

This is the first study of the stories behind the court appearances. It reveals the people who developed relationships across the racial divide: Aboriginal people confused about why they were facing a magistrate and deciding whether to resist the invaders or move quietly into their society; colonists struggling to keep their pastoral enterprises going, and finding there was more to the story than they thought; officials working with inadequate resources and lawyers mounting arguments to keep their Aboriginal clients out of gaol; and, a Chief Justice trying to apply English law to Indigenous citizens.

Using rarely discussed documents, Pope reveals how the complexities played out and where, despite the rhetoric, Aboriginal people were treated poorly."--Pub. desc.