'Three strikes' policy set to become law

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Tue, 19 Jan 2010 5:19p.m.

Rodney Hide

Rodney Hide

By Rachel Morton

ACT leader Rodney Hide has finally got his party's way with National - the controversial 'three strikes' policy will become law.

ACT campaigned on its hard-line against repeat offenders, which will see those convicted of a third serious violent or sexual offence get the maximum penalty - even if it is life with no parole. Judges won't have discretion.

Second-time offenders won't get parole either, but they won't necessarily get the maximum jail time. How long they serve will be up to the judge.

The hard-line policy has been criticised as being too blunt an instrument, which will swell the prison population.

Police and Corrections Minister Judith Collins says the prison muster will indeed increase, and there will need to be more prison beds.

After 10 years the increase in the prison population is expected to be 142. After 20, 288, and after 30 years, 433.

The 'three strikes' change will go to a select committee and the public will be allowed to make submissions - but with ACT and National both supporting it, it will become law.

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Comments

24 Jan 2010 01:05p.m.

urban druid wrote:

Hi Chris, your ideas certainly sound like the spikes at the bottom of the cliff, but our community and acceptance of one another needs to be the fence at the top.
With regard to the Burton case, Mr. Burton and his mind were found responsible for his actions in the weeks and months leading to his offending, confrontation with police, and re-incarceration. No individual nor the parole board should be blamed or forced to take responsibility for Mr. Burton's actions, as each would have only made their decision about the risk Mr. Burton posed based on their experience, due process and the information before them.

23 Jan 2010 01:05a.m.

Chris wrote:

The people who are bleating about how longer sentances will neither deter would be crims, nor rehabilitate convicted ones are missing the point: this law change is designed to keep the very worst, repeat offenders OFF THE STREETS. Graham Burton was beyond rehabilitation, however the system disagreed, and decided to give him YET ANOTHER CHANCE. That decision cost an innocent man his life.

This law change effectively puts a big warning sign at the top of the cliff, and some very nasty spikes at the bottom. Instead of complaining about how badly people will be hurt when they hit the bottom, the likes Pita Sharples should maybe concentrate on keeping people away from the edge.

22 Jan 2010 11:23a.m.

Craig wrote:

All this from the ACT Party, which voted *against* the abolition of the provocation defence, which was letting off killers of certain categories of people with the diminished charge of manslaughter rather than murder convictions...despite the fact that abolition of provocation led to a rise in murder convictions and longer sentences for violent killers in Tasmania...

21 Jan 2010 12:38p.m.

Jim wrote:

@ "It has long been acknowledged that those on the right are a little retarded"
What a long name. I do assume the right wingers you refer to would be all the Royalty / Emperors and their henchmen that appeared over the last few thousand years which would be totally correct. i am just saying that not all leftest are that great either. An old saying for anyone one of us "Give em power and it goes to their heads!!!

21 Jan 2010 10:45a.m.

Jim wrote:

@ "It has long been acknowledged that those on the right are a little retarded"
Where did you get the asertions of Left having a conscience? Ask the millions who died under Stalin, Chairman Mau, Pilpott etc.. These people were also supremists to the max.
Oh I forgot Hitler who was a Unionist and ddid not expressly like the right wing Jewish people, he was also a Supremist.
I think you would be kidding yourself if you believe the Left are well rounded goog people!!!

20 Jan 2010 06:09p.m.

It has long been acknowledged that those on the right are a little retarded. wrote:

@ Jim

Hate the Wellington supreme court think its a complete waste of money.

As for your other assertions.. lol, well I think sick people with cancer, aids or a large number of illnesses who cant work and will never be able too can expect that they wont just be euthenised by righties.

As for the cradle to the grave mentality we all have it, right and left.

This is a policy enacted by the far right in the form of ACT, watered down by national who is only slighlty less right than ACT

Whether you a family expecting inwork tax credits or a business expecting government concessions.. its very much a right and left gimme gimme mentalility.

Where right and left differ is conscience, left has one and right does not and is more militant and supremist in its view point.

The right is expecting government to spend billions extra on new prisons... still very much a gimme attitude as there is always a tradeoff somewhere else.

20 Jan 2010 04:18p.m.

Jim wrote:

@ “It has long been acknowledged that those on the right are a little retarded”
Yeh, but it is arties and lefties (who would not know how to earn money and just get Govt handouts) who think the $80M monstrosity in Wellington is money well spent. Maybe they could have used it to build more prisons.
And just another note, if it were any one of your rellies or friends who got done in by a 4th time offender (under Helens PC lefty ideology) you would be singing a different tune!!!

20 Jan 2010 02:51p.m.

Good for you diana wrote:

Since you have no issue with this new policy... what district are you in so we can tell the ministry of justice that you have no issue with multiple new prisons opening in your area.

20 Jan 2010 09:49a.m.

It has long been acknowledged that those on the right are a little retarded. wrote:

To Righties like Glenn and Alien, really you two talk alot of rubbish.

Some American states have had the three strikes policy for longer than I have been alive.

Doesnt work, crime levels in those states are on par with other states in america that dont have that policy.

Shows that our politicians have no ideas of their own, they just rip them off from everywhere else.

In reality what will this do to crime statistics? well if other countries are to be believed, pretty much nothing.

You have to remember that if this policy isnt applied to all prisoners equally it actually is nothing but unfair.

Alien rants on about how great the rehabilitation rates were in private prison and over looks the title of the story.. three strikes and your out, so what exactly does that have to do with this story? if your stuck out there is no getting back into the game so rehabilitation doesnt apply.

And different things are introduced to combat crime each and every time a new government gets into power, none of them have ever worked and so far Nationals policies look like a bad repeat of the 1990's.

Government has had 150+ years to come up with good policies to combat crime, but always failed (both National and Labour).

This policy will just make the justice system far more expensive for tax payers, which means National will look to cut things elsewhere to keep funding it.

Even private prisons get paid for by government, and some of these people could spend 40-60 years in prison.

And I guarantee that the numbers given by the Corrections Minister have been manipulated in favour of her right wing point of view.

And when this process does finally begin to happen there will be comments like "we couldnt anticipate" or "it wasnt expected".

Right Wingers give everyone the creeps around the world, their bigotted, opinionated and down right nasty mostly and never acknowledge anyone but themselves.

Everything a well rounded good person shouldnt be.

20 Jan 2010 07:00a.m.

Glenn wrote:

Needs to be tried, and to the pc group who keep ranting on about rehabilitation, yeah that's working well isn't it. This will send a clear message that crime will not be tolerated.