3 Strikes and Prison Privatisation
We get our first look at the new 3 strikes law:
An Upper Hutt man has been served with New Zealand’s first warning under the controversial “three strikes” law after being convicted of groping a woman.
Dwyane Christopher Mercer, 32, was convicted in Upper Hutt District Court last week after pleading guilty to indecently assaulting his friend’s partner. Indecent assault is one of 40 serious violent offences that attract “strikes” upon conviction. The law came into force on June 1….
His partner of seven years, Vanisha Mercer, 25, supported him in court and was unhappy with the “strike”. His three-year-old daughter and son, 6, were missing their father, who was in prison for the first time, she said. “I think it’s unfair … He was just drunk.” …
Judge Tom Broadmore warned Mercer he would be given a second strike if he committed another of the 40 offences, and would consequently serve a jail term without parole.
A third strike would bring a mandatory maximum sentence for that crime, also with no parole.
“You will have to tread very carefully in the future,” the judge said. – Dom Post
The 3 strikes law was touted as being for the worst violent offenders only. Parole, one of the few mechanisms available to moderate a prisoner’s behaviour, would only be removed for these offenders. Is Mercer one of these? Or are we seeing the beginning of the downward spiral towards more New Zealanders being thrown into our underfunded and violent prison nation? This seems increasingly likely, especially in light of National’s prison privatisation aspirations.
In Monday’s news we heard that no charges were being brought after an Aboriginal man died in a Western Australian prison van, where he had a 4 hour ride without ventilation in 50 degree plus temperatures that gave him 3rd degree burns. He had been provided with 600ml of water as they took him for the long ride to court to face a drink driving charge.
The van was being run by G4S, a large Australian/UK prison company who, if privatisation of prisons occurs here, will be most the most likely candidate. Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident in Australia. In 2005 G4S subsidiary GSL was fined $500,000 after staff refused detainees water and access to a toilet on a seven‐hour bus trip between the Maribyrnong and Baxter detention centres. The death of a man from an unattended asthma attack amongst other deaths and violations failed to stop them recently being awarded another contract in Melbourne.
Other issues with privatisation? If an organisation stands to profit from jailing people there is little incentive for that organisation to see crime rates drop. From a purely business point of view there is surely a big incentive for the private prison operator to make sure their customers become regular customers… good timing with the 3 strikes law then I guess.
More information on 3 Strikes: here, here, and here.
And a great podcast from bFM regarding smoking, privatisation and the state of the New Zealand prison system:
http://www.95bfm.com/assets/sm/196145/3/PeterWilliamsSmokingPrisons.mp3
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