The Scott Johnson case: The manslaughter plea, hatred, and criminal law reform for historic anti-homosexual and anti-trans violence in New South Wales

Abstract

The Scott Johnson case presents a complex policing and prosecutorial history, including an apparent New South Wales Police attempt to denigrate the deceased and his family to avoid criticism of an early police determination and ongoing insistence on death by suicide. Johnson's killer, Scott White, has now been sentenced in the Supreme Court of New South Wales following his guilty plea to manslaughter. This article assesses issues as to sentencing for crimes of prejudice, especially historic offences motivated by anti-homosexual prejudice. There is pressing concern for such recognition as a matter of retrospective reforms to evidence and sentencing, given the number of unresolved homicides against gay/homosexual and trans victims reviewed by the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ Hate Crimes, where a possible element of such offending included "gay hate" prejudice.