Thursday's main STAR story about 'Ghetto Justice, No Cops Needed' must be seen in the wider context of the concept of the state.

For while it is a fascinating look at just how some communities set up their own courts, it is also a serious indication of the extent to which the state is losing (or has lost) its reach and power in these areas.

As was reported, one resident said "wi nuh need nobody fi come sort out our things fi we. We have wi own people who wi know an trust... Look pon it da way yah, if yu do nuttin fi get inna trouble yu naw go get none, so if yu broke di law yu ago get punish di way yu deserve it".

This is, unfortuinately, not a totally surprising development, not with the long-standing culture of not 'informing' to the police, long celebrated in song and enforced in practice. So if the primary organs of state justice, the members of the police force, are not to be involved in matters of the law, then certainly there has to be an alternate course of accessing justice.

Of course, many of the matters adjudicated by these 'ghetto courts' could not be taken to the genuine courts in the first place. 'Foota' told THE STAR that after kneeling on bottle stoppers for five hours, his punishment for taking a gun without permission, he fainted. And it was mentioned that even 'bad mind' can come in for punishment.

That last one may be a bit humorous, but it shows just how tenuous this concept of self-administered justice can be. It is simply another system of control of people's lives by the 'thuggies' and is simply not to be tolerated.