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Archived Press Releases 2007 30th September 2007

NEW LEGISLATION MEANS MORE CRIMINALS ON THE STREETS

(30th September 2007)

“More convicted criminals on the street, more crime and more victims.”
These are the dire predictions of the Sensible Sentencing Trust to new justice reforms coming into effect on 1st October.

The Criminal Justice Reform Act means more convicted criminals will serve their sentence on home-detention and is a direct result of the Government's quest to reduce the prison population; it takes effect on 1st October.

But the Sensible Sentencing Trust are predicting the new legislation will be total disaster saying more criminals on the streets will mean more crime and more victims.

Trust spokesman Garth McVicar said, “As society declines we all pay, the liberal soft on crime experiment hasn’t worked to date, we see no reason this will be any different.”

“The cotton-wool treatment of criminals has already cost thousands of lives – we believe many more innocent New Zealanders will die as a result of this crazy legislation.”

McVicar said many Courts had been deferring sentencing until the new legislation came into effect. “We will now see a rush of convicted repeat offenders receiving home detention, rather than getting softer on criminals the justice system should be protecting innocent citizens.”

“Tent prisons based on the Arizona model and three strikes and-you-are-out would be a far better way of stopping crime and preventing more victims.”

“Moana Morris’s killer had 85 previous convictions, her killer should not have been out of prison – under three-strike legislation she would not have been – and Mrs Morris would still be alive and so would many other victims.”

“Innocent people will die and Politicians will have blood on their hands as a direct consequence of this legislation.”

Regards,

Garth McVicar
National Spokesperson,
Sensible Sentencing Trust.