Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill
By | Feb 24, 2010
The Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill is currently before select committee, and due in Parliament for its second reading in March.
The purpose of the bill is to create a 3-strike system of increasing consequences for repeat violent offenders.
There are 37 offences identified in the bill that are eligible for a strike against offenders.
An offender qualifies for each strike if they receive a determinate sentence of imprisonment of five years or more, life imprisonment or preventive detention (a qualifying sentence) for a specified serious violent offence. The three stages are as follows:
First offence = standard sentence and one strike
Second offence = sentence without parole, 2nd strike
Third offence = maximum sentence without parole (however, courts are allowed to overturn this in favour of a lesser non-parole sentence if the maximum would be “manifestly unjust” in the circumstances.)
The proposed policy effectively transfers sentencing discretion from the judiciary to the police. Rethinking Crime and Punishment have pointed this out with the following situation: “Under the proposed legislation, the police could for example, lay a charge of assault of aggravated injury against an offender, which is a three strikes offence. They could then plea bargain with the offender, and reduce the charge to aggravated assault, which is not eligible, on condition that the offender pleaded guilty to the lesser charge. Police ‘overcharging’ is a major issue in New Zealand, with around 10 percent of all charges laid by the police being subsequently withdrawn.”
From the risks and impact section of the Bill: “It is not possible to conclude with any certainty to what extent any of the options will improve public safety. There is a possibility that removing the worst repeat violent offenders from the community for longer periods of time will result in less serious violent offending in the community. …. most research has found that imprisonment has little if any specific deterrent effect. There is a great deal of evidence indicating that offending rates decrease only marginally as a result of penalties being increased.”
“There is a risk that punitive measures such as these policies will increase the level of punitiveness in the criminal justice system generally, which will increase costs across all parts of the criminal justice sector.”
The Bill also states that the impact of the legislation on prison capacity will be felt after 10 years, when a total of 25 additional prison beds will be needed to accommodate prisoners sentenced under the policy. This number will increase to 46 after 15 years and to 70 after 20 years. It is estimated that when the full effects of implementation have been felt after 50 years, an additional 132 prison beds will have been needed.
It is an empty political gesture, pandering to populist “common sense” – that longer sentences obviously equal a safer community.
The bill can be found here
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