Act MP Accused of Misleading Public on ‘Three-Strikes” Effectiveness

Posted: January 22, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Analysis, Breaking News, Business, Community, Current, education, health, NZPacific, Opinion & Commentary, Politics, US & Foreign Affairs | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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Media Release
Rethinking Crime and Punishment

Garrett Misleading the Public on Effectiveness of Three Strikes – says Rethinking Crime and Punishment

“David Garrett should stop claiming that the three strikes law in California single handedly reduced violent offences in California by 50%, “says Kim Workman, Director of Rethinking Crime and Punishment. “It is a misleading claim, and not based on evidence.”

Since the late 1980’s there has been a steady and significant crime drop across the United States and Canada. But that drop trended five years before the introduction of the “three strikes” laws. Were “three strikes” the cause of a significant part of the decline, the rate of decline should have increased around ten years after its passage. Instead, the rate of decline remained constant, and the causes of the decline that operated prior to three strikes continued to be the primary reason for the drop in crime rates.”

“Comparing California’s decline in crime with other states presents a different picture. New York, not California, showed the sharpest decline in crime during the time in question, and yet it along with 21 other states, did not not have three strikes legislation. Canada experienced a similar national crime dropand yet it does not have three strikes, and imprisons people at a rate half that of New Zealand.”

“Even in California, the results were unclear. Californian counties that aggressively enforced the law had no greater declines in crime than did counties that used it far more sparingly. One study found that crime dropped by 21.3 percent in the six most lenient “three strikes” counties, compared to a 12.7 percent drop in the toughest counties.”

“It is inevitable that if one increases the prison population four fold in 10 years, that some of that crime reduction will be due to increased incarceration. Notwithstanding, there is no compelling evidence to show that the three strikes legislation impacted on criminal offending, one way or the other. The test in New Zealand will be what happens to the crime rate when hundreds of offenders start pouring out of prisons after serving 15 – 25 years or more, from 2040 onwards, and whether imprisonment has reduced their taste for crime. We think not.”

Kim Workman

Director

Rethinking Crime and Punishment

director@rethinking.org.nz

http://www.rethinking.org.nz

Related Story:

Gordon Campbell » Blog Archive » On the ‘Three Strikes’ Policy and the SAS in Kabul.

NZ Parliament Expresses Sympathy to Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga: David Garrett (Act)

Posted: October 15, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Analysis, Breaking News, Business, Community, Current, Earthquake Tsunami Samoa/AmSampa 09, education, Environment, Honour & Tribute, NZPacific, Politics, South Pacific Region | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Transcript of Yesterday’s Parliamentary Motion at 2pm.

Speakers:

    1. Prime Minister John Key
    2. Labour Deputy Leader Annette King
    3. Green Party Co-Leader Russell Norman
    4. Act Party David Garrett
    5. Maori Party Co-Leader Dr Pita Sharples
    6. Progressive Leader Jim Anderton
    7. United Future Peter Dunne
    8. Labour Luamanuvao Winnie Laban
    9. National Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga
    10. Labour Su’a William Sio

    Pacific Islands—Tsunami

    DAVID GARRETT (ACT) : I rise on behalf of the ACT Party to express our utmost sympathy for the victims of this tragic event affecting our Pacific brothers and sisters. It goes without saying that our hearts go out to all of those who have been affected, in whichever country. Much of the world’s attention, and certainly ours, is quite rightly centred on Samoa, and for good reason: Samoa bore the brunt of the damage inflicted by the tsunami, both in terms of lives lost and in devastation. But Tonga has also been affected. It is the second human tragedy to befall the kingdom in the last 3 months, following the loss of the Princess Ashika, in which 74 people died, their bodies never to be recovered. The loss in Samoa and American Samoa is awful, but let us not forget that the loss in Tonga is no less great for the families of the victims.

    [picapp src=”7/7/6/a/Further_Quake_Hits_2161.jpg?adImageId=5638541&imageId=6700878″ width=”500″ height=”333″ /]

    The event is a reminder of how all our Pacific neighbours and ourselves are vulnerable to these events. Had this tsunami occurred 500 kilometres to the east, it would have devastated Fiji in very similar ways to what occurred in Samoa. Had it been 500 kilometres to the south, the Tongan main island of Tongatapu, where I lived for a number of years, would have been entirely obliterated, as it is a low atoll.

    The latest reports suggest that the death toll across the region will be higher than the 190 currently recorded in the media. This will come as no surprise to those of us who are familiar with the Pacific. Some of the areas hit are incredibly remote. Niuatoputapu, together with Nuiafo‘ou, the northern extremity of the Tongan islands, are 500 kilometres from mainland Tonga and are, in fact, closer to Samoa than Tonga. Scattered reports from there suggest that over 60 percent of the buildings in Niuatoputapu were destroyed by a 6-metre wall of water—utter devastation. It is an island the size of, or a little larger than, Rangitoto and is home to 1,400 people, 10 of whom were taken. There was massive damage to an already limited infrastructure. People there have lived at one with the sea for generations, and they will not soon forget this tragedy. Any rumbling of the earth will cause the locals to flee to higher ground, where it exists, to seek refuge in the case of another disaster.

    Yet, by contrast, the response by Kiwis was typically cynical, and some would say foolish. New Zealanders flocked in their droves to the beaches. Many took an hour off work, even here in Parliament, to wander down to Oriental Bay. Parents took their children. One can only gape in wonder at what they were thinking, and at the danger they were putting themselves and their loved ones in. New Zealanders need to wake up to the very real danger of tsunami in our part of the world. We are a coastal nation, with most of our cities lying on the coast or near water. A similar event off the coast of this country would flatten many towns and cities, wreaking utter havoc. I would like to pay tribute to a young girl, who I believe is from the Wellington area, who had made a study of the phenomenon of tsunamis. She realised very quickly what was happening in Samoa and was able to warn people, saving who knows how many lives.

    Although we mourn the loss of our cousins and friends in Samoa and Tonga, let us not forget that one day we may find ourselves in a similar situation to theirs. Let us learn from this tragedy while we help our neighbours to rebuild. To our friends in Samoa and Tonga, ofa atu, alofa tele atu.