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Mike Williams: We are heading in the right direction
7 May, 2021 06:00 PM
5 minutes to read
Extra judges appointed by Andrew Little have resulted in shorter periods in jail for prisoners on remand. Photo / File
Extra judges appointed by Andrew Little have resulted in shorter periods in jail for prisoners on remand. Photo / File
Hawkes Bay Today
By: Mike Williams
Last week the Howard League mounted the third annual conference of the instructors and administrators who work on the league s driver licensing programme. It was a thoroughly positive experience, and I left the venue in Taupō on Thursday on a high and determined to improve and expand the programme.
Ex-inmate takes prison operator Serco to court over alleged degrading treatment
20 Apr, 2021 06:48 AM
8 minutes to read
A former inmate is taking prison operator Serco to court for allegedly treating him in a degrading and inhumane way. File photo / George Heard
A former inmate is taking prison operator Serco to court for allegedly treating him in a degrading and inhumane way. File photo / George Heard
RNZ
A former inmate is taking prison operator Serco to court for allegedly treating him in a degrading and inhumane way - something Serco categorically denies.
Peter Rerekura has now completed his prison time after he was sentenced to nine and a half years for a string of crimes, including beating his daughter and traffic offences.
There has been a lot of media over the past week focussed on the need to improve the prisons. I must say that I have been disturbed by Kelvin Davis’ ‘blame the victim’ stance. I am aware that there are some very nefarious characters in New Zealand prisons, but there is enough corroborating evidence that the system is not up to the standards that we expect as New Zealanders.
These standards are laid out in the ‘purpose’ section of the Corrections Act 2004. Prisons must be safe, secure, humane and effective. They must be operated at least on the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. They must assist in rehabilitating offenders and reintegrating them into the community by providing programmes and other interventions.