August 29, 2018
Recidivism sign of prison failure
Recidivism sign of prison failure
A participant at last week’s Criminal Justice system says its aim of a safe and effective criminal justice system is something worth striving for.
In an essay for the E-Tangata site, social activist and Black power elder Denis O’Reilly says the summit was a rare example of political leadership based on principle rather than populism.
He’s seeing too many cases of Māori recidivist offenders in their 30s whose profound psychological conditions from their youth have never been addressed by the justice system.
"If you take those two words safe and effective, and effective is something that works, and where you've got a near 60 percent rate of recidivism, that doesn't work. If you were in a factory with a 60 percent failure rate, you’d be shut down," Mr O’Reilly says.
One positive outcome was the establishment of a Māori caucus that can continue to advocate for change.
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