As I was leaving the Downing Centre, which houses the criminal jurisdiction of the District Court and a good part of the Local Court jurisdiction for the CBD, I overheard a young lad explaining to a girl about the problems he had experienced obtaining a pair of Nike shorts on sale.

I assumed that he had either been inside the Downing Centre for his own matter or that of someone he knew. It was at that point I realised that Nike shorts were perhaps a corollary of my "Nice Jackets" theory of crime. Essentially, my nice jackets theory postulates that the reason why the majority of defendants find themselves inside the Downing Centre is because nobody bought them nice jackets when they were young. The "Nice Jackets" theory had its origins in the explanation I gave once to some private school students who were visiting the Downing Centre for a school excursion. They had on some nice private school uniforms, so I explained to them that the people whom they saw there, were there because nobody had bought them nice jackets like theirs when they were young.

I think it is quite possible that the allure of Nike shorts could be used as an incentive for wayward youth. Those who attend school more regularly could be rewarded with Nike shorts. They could perhaps be persuaded to do almost all beneficial activities if sufficiently motivated by the prospect of some Nike shorts. And anyway, they could probably do with some shorts with summer coming on.