July 25, 2016
Just Speak takes aim at prison muster
With the Waitangi Tribunal this week hearing a claim on whether action or inaction by the Crown and the Department of Corrections have contributed to the high Maori imprisonment rate, reform group Just Speak is encouraging radical thinking on the issue.
It’s holding a forum at Wellington Cathedral on Wednesday evening featuring experts Moana Jackson and Kim Workman.
Mr Workman says international experience indicates reducing imprisonment would reduce crime.
He says reducing prison numbers by 25 percent would not only be a more achievable goal than reducing reoffending by 25 percent, it would have greater benefits for communities.
Mr Jackson will ask whether prisons are needed at all, and propose some imaginative approaches to criminal justice.
The prison muster is on track to top 10,000 by next April, meaning another $75 million in extra cost and another 700 people and whanau whose potential will be locked away.
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