So the government has proposed a rethink on how sentencing and parole is done, mainly due to the growing prison population. They have proposed changing parole so that it doesn't kick in until two-thirds of the sentence (rather than one-third as at present), reducing sentences to compensate for this, and increased use of home detention and other means to reduce the number of jail sentences.runescape2 autominer programs

Let's examine this a bit.runescape2 autominer programs

First of all, I do aplaud the move to make parole kick in later. It is a bit ridiculous at present where the sentence issued by the judge bears little relation to the time actually served. In effect, the current system makes all judges into liars - they issue jail sentences that are very rarely served. Moving eligibility for parole out to two-thirds is a definite improvement.runescape2 autominer programs

However, I am not so convinced about the rest. Reducing sentences to compensate for the parole changes sounds sensible. Most offenders will end up serving the same amount of time as they did previously, except that the sentence is more realistic. However, consider what happens to the most serious offenders. They won't get parole (well, we hope not anyway), but their sentences have still been reduced.runescape2 autominer programs

Consequently, the worst offenders, those we want to keep in jail the longest, have just got a cut in their jail time.runescape2 autominer programs

National's policy at the last election was to eliminate parole. While this sounds good, I am not convinced that it is the best way either. It seems perfectly reasonable to me that a very remorseful offender should be let out sooner than one who shows no remorse - if you eliminate parole, then you can no longer do this.runescape2 autominer programs

The problem I have with the parole system is how it works in practice. It concerns me that unelected officials in the corrections department have all this power, and are subject to directions from the Minister. The Government has the ability to let prisoners out the back door quickly, simply by issuing directives to the parole officials, rather than doing it properly and changing the law (and consequently allowing it be debated properly).runescape2 autominer programs

I would much rather see parole decided by judges than officials. And not just judges whose sole job is to review parole cases - judges who also operate normally in a courtroom. This would give more independence to the decisions, and not allow the executive the power to interfere as easily. Sure it would increase the workload of the courts, but I think it should be investigated further.runescape2 autominer programs

Posted by Dave Bryant at 4:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) runescape2 autominer programs