Lex Lasry safety tweet ‘risks impartiality of court’

Victorian judge risked ‘profoundly compromising’ court impartiality with rebuke of Peter Dutton on crime, opposition says.

Lex Lasry has been criticised for commenting on public safety.

Victorian Supreme Court judge Lex Lasry risked “profoundly compromising” the impartiality of the court when he entered the political arena by riffing on a comment by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, the state’s opposition says.

Justice Lasry weighed into the debate about youth gang violence when he tweeted on Wednesday evening: “Breaking: there are citizens out to dinner in Mansfield tonight and they’re not worried.”

The comment was a direct rebuke of Mr Dutton’s remarks on Sydney radio the same day when he said people in Melbourne were afraid to go out for dinner at local restaurants.

Breaking: there are citizens out to dinner in Mansfield tonight and they’re not worried.

— Lex Lasry (@Lasry08) January 3, 2018

Victoria’s opposition legal affairs spokesman, John Pesutto, said Justice Lasry’s remarks were “problematic”.

“It is deeply problematic for any sitting judge to enter the political fray by commenting on contentious issues on social media,” he told The Weekend Australian.

“Mr Lasry has to decide whether he wants to be known as His Honour or Lex. To tread into highly political matters risks profoundly compromising the standing and impartiality of the court.

“Respectfully, I think His Honour should consider closing his Twitter account or, at least, make sure he stays away from highly political matters.”

Labor’s Attorney-General, Martin Pakula, declined to comment on whether Justice Lasry should be excused from such cases in the future.

The intervention by Justice Lasry came during a heated debate about the youth crime rate, and prevalence of African youths as perpetrators of crime.

On Friday police vowed to catch up to a dozen young men of African descent behind a violent crime spree in Melbourne’s west, including an attack on a 59-year-old woman, who was hit and forced to watch as the group ransacked the property she was house-sitting.

One Hoppers Crossing family told The Weekend Australian they were now so afraid of letting their daughters walk to catch the school bus or visit the local shopping centre after being terrorised by local youths, they were now moving interstate.

“It sounds stupid, but when you’ve got a 15-year-old daughter and you know a gang is heckling her from the park and threatening her as she walks home, what are you meant to do?” Dannielle Beaton said.

“We’re just sick of feeling ­unsafe.”

Dannielle and Eric Beaton with their daughters at their home in Truganina.