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Archived Press Releases 2007 26th July 2007

Rethinking Crime and Punishment - my way or no way says Boss

(26th July 2007)

After announcing they were off to America to look at the prison system in Arizona and Los Angles the Sensible Sentencing Trust has been attacked by the director of Prison Fellowship and leader of the Rethinking Crime and Punishment project.

Kim Workman said he was appalled that Trust Spokesman Garth McVicar and legal adviser Stephen Franks would consider undertaking such a trip.

Mr Workman is also involved with the Prison Faith-Based Unit that was recently caught up in controversy after the murder of an inmate associated with the Faith-Based Unit in Rimutuka Prison.

Convicted murderer Rex Hopper died after being stabbed in the throat with a garden fork after an altercation over a screwdriver. There have been numerous violent incidents in prison recently with prison staff being assaulted by inmates and thousands of dollars of property damaged in prison riots.

Mr McVicar said he refused to lower the debate to a personal level but suggested that Mr Workman would be better off focusing attention on problems in his own backyard.

"New Zealand has become a very criminal country and our violent crime rate is continuing to rise – and in fact defy gravity – and this escalation has continued every year despite huge amounts of taxpayer funding being poured into various crime reduction and rehabilitation programs."

"The tax-payers of this country deserve better, our re-offending rates indicate something is seriously wrong with the current system, and we think New Zealanders deserve better."

"Kim Workman and I went on a fact-finding-trip to Britain and Europe with the Minister of Corrections last year, so I am very surprised that he is prepared to criticize our trip to America before even giving us a chance to look and learn."

"While Kim has quoted various bad examples of what has happened in the Arizona prisons under Sheriff Joe Arpaio, he should know better than anyone that bad news always makes the headlines."

"Arizona is putting a lot of effort into entry level crime and treating inmates with drug and alcohol problems. I have trouble understanding why Mr Workman is so negative about this especially when this country has huge problems with youth offending and drug and alcohol related crimes."

Mr McVicar said he agreed that prisons must be run humanely but they must also be institutions inmates did not want to return to.

"Currently our prisons are overcrowded and we have a backlog of convicted criminals queuing up to get in."

"As leader of the project 'Rethinking Crime and Punishment' I would have thought that he would be encouraging anyone who is prepared to have an open and honest look at possible alternatives."

"I can only assume Mr Workman's interpretation of 'Rethinking' is "My way – or No way."

Regards,

Garth McVicar
National Spokesperson,
Sensible Sentencing Trust.