Justice? Explained

Justice? was a 1990s direct action group, based in Brighton, England. It campaigned against the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and set up SchNEWS.

Courthouse

In 1994, the Justice? organisation held a number of meetings and debates in their squatted building (a former courthouse).^[1] Justice? was a deliberately loosely co-ordinated organisation formed around a community of people with differing and sometimes substantially conflicting political positions.^[2] Some of its more overt political actions were authored by the groups' collective persona Jo Makepeace. It campaigned against a bill in the British Parliament which was later to become the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.^[3]

Squatters Estate Agency

Justice? received mainstream media attention in 1996 (including coverage on the BBC Newsnight program) when they launched their "Squatters Estate Agency."^[4]

The group also organised two direct action conferences and ran a community allotment in Moulsecoomb.^[5]

SchNEWS

SchNEWS, the newsletter of the organisation, was founded at the Courthouse and read out at places in Brighton including the New Kensington pub.^[6] It continued until September 2014.

See also

• DIY culture
• Punk ideologies
• Reclaim the Streets
• M11 link road protest

Notes and References

1. Dee . E.T.C. . The Ebb and Flow of Resistance: Analysis of the Squatters' Movement and Squatted Social Centres in Brighton . Sociological Research Online . December 2014 . 19 . 4 . 96–112 . 10.5153/sro.3502. 147386741 .
2. Web site: About Justice? . 22 November 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20050313025148/http://www.schnews.org.uk/justice/ . 13 March 2005.
3. Book: McKay . George . Senseless acts of beauty : culture of resistance since the sixties . 17 June 1996 . Verso . 1859840280 . 175.
4. News: Serpis . Almudena . Europe's empty houses drive new wave of squatting activism . 22 November 2019 . The Ecologist . 6 January 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191122002905/https://theecologist.org/2012/jan/06/europes-empty-houses-drive-new-wave-squatting-activism . 22 November 2019 . en.
5. Web site: Justice? Two Years . SCHNEWS . 22 November 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040208014204/http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/round-justice-twoyearson.htm . 8 February 2004.
6. News: Goodey . Jan . Purssell . Richard . SchNEWS: how road protesters, ravers and GM activists fought back with direct action tabloid . 22 November 2019 . The Ecologist . 29 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191122003816/https://theecologist.org/2011/jul/29/schnews-how-road-protesters-ravers-and-gm-activists-fought-back-direct-action-tabloid . 22 November 2019 . en.