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Archived Press Releases 2007 25th July 2007

PAROLE IN A CIVILISED SOCIETY?

(25th July 2007)

Parole has no place in a civilized society says the Sensible Sentencing Trust – because the criminals committing crime do not abide by the rules a civilized society abides by.

"They have lost the benefits and rights a civilized society offers," says Trust spokesman Garth McVicar.

McVicar says the recent two day seminar under the guise of "Parole in a civilized society" was a con-job and simply more of the same old rubbish from the same vested interest individuals and organizations.

"Anybody reading all the spin and propaganda surrounding parole in recent days could be forgiven for thinking there is only ingredient worth considering in the whole parole debate – the criminal – the volunteer who had a choice and made a deliberate conscious decision to commit crime."

"All of the articles I have read from various so called experts have all raved on about the benefits of parole and how terribly cruel and harsh longer sentences are."

"These so called experts have forgotten one key ingredient in this debate – the victim – the one person who had no choice."

But that McVicar argues is typical, "Most of the so-called experts are making a living from the criminal justice gravy train."

"There is no getting away from the fact that New Zealand has a criminal centered – offender friendly legal system that could not be mistaken for a justice system in your wildest dreams," he says.

The Trust's policy on parole is that it should be abolished for ALL repeat offenders or violent criminals. For this category of criminal the Trust believes the sentence the judge gives should be sentence served with a post sentence reintegration period at the end of every sentence under closely monitored post sentence supervision.

McVicar points out the Criminal Justice Reform Bill currently before Parliament intended to deny victims the right to appear at parole hearings and it was only through intense pressure from the Sensible Sentencing Trust that this was changed.

"Where were these experts then, and where were the members of the Parole board?"

"The current parole system causes huge anguish and anxiety to the victims concerned – but have you heard that mentioned in this debate on the role of parole in a civilized society?"

"Where is the voice for the victim? Who speaks for the people most affected by crime?”

Sadly McVicar says it appears only the Sensible Sentencing Trust does.

"And we could hardly call that a civilized society" he says

Regards,

Garth McVicar
National Spokesperson,
Sensible Sentencing Trust.