Comments for David Garrett.org.nz

Comment on Three Strikes appeals to all classes by John Ansell

John Ansell — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:46:21 +0000

A very illuminating comment David – and a good, well-branded site.

Condolences on the loss of your mother.

Comment on First Dunedin “striker” convicted by dgarrett

dgarrett — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:56:26 +0000

Hello Liz,

I’m afraid I disagree with you on a number of fronts – but that will be no surprise to you.

Firstly, how do you know all the things you claim to be true about this woman – do you know her? Secondly, even if they are all true, what do you suggest we as a society do about it? Sadly, through our failed social policies of the last 40 years, we have created a generation that know and respect no boundaries, for whom commonly accepted values are foreign, and who know everything about rights, but nothing about responsibilities.

You seem to have some knowledge of the corrections system. If so, you will know that the craziness of the Sentencing Act means that other than prisoners sentenced to minimum non parole periods for murder, no-one – not the inmate nor Corrections nor the Parole Board – has any real idea how long any particular inmate will be in jail.

This means that it can be difficult if not impossible to determine whether someone is eligible for particular programmes or not. Yes, there should be more places in such programmes, ACT supports that. But the country is in dire financial straits, and few would say that at this time more rehab programmes for criminals should be the top priority for the taxpayer’s scarce dollars.

I agree that sadly, this woman is likely to reoffend on release, possibly or even probably violently. Under three strikes, that will lead to her getting a DEFINITE finite sentence; she and everyone in the system will know exactly how long she is going to be incarcerated. I absolutely agree that she and others like her – second strikers facing lengthy sentences – should have access to any programme that is likely to make their reoffending less likely.

But if she and others like her come out and do it again, how many more chances do YOU think she should be given? Ten? Thirty? Or should we wait until she graduates to the status of killer?

I don’t expect to have convinced you or even altered your opinion, but thank you for writing anyway.

Sincerely,
David Garrett

Comment on First Dunedin “striker” convicted by Liz

Liz — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:24:00 +0000

She is probably a young mother of 1-3 children living below the poverty line, and the victim of abuse. That is the profile of the average woman prisoner. You know what they look like, David – you went to Auckland Women’s recently and found a shockingly young and Maori prison population. The things that led her to commit that unacceptable crime – low emotional intelligence, feelings of alienation and inability to cope – probably won’t be addressed in prison, and indeed are likely to be made worse, so when she comes out she will have no better chance of staying out of prison. Her children will be clingy and she will have no chance of getting a job, and will still be poor. Your 3 strikes legislation simply says, we can’t be bothered trying to make the most disadvantaged people in our society into good citizens, it is easier to lock them away at $92,000 per year each. Look at the comments your column elicited – no understanding, no compassion, no notion of trying to rehabilitate a young citizen who has fallen off the good road. Just kind of hate and fear. We must move beyond this….

Comment on Three Strikes appeals to all classes by Harry Young

Harry Young — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:18:25 +0000

That’s why the left are betraying their own voters – Maori Party more than anyone

Comment on First Dunedin “striker” convicted by Harry Young

Harry Young — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:16:27 +0000

Should have been 10 years with no parole for a serious violent offence like this. Life for a second.