Sad to see Act suggesting impractical fettering of our justice system by controlling the parameters that bind judges in sentencing.
The “back story” of offenders will always be relevant to sentencing, regardless of their ethnicity.
The crime situation, especially with regard to public safety, will only be improved through better resourcing of police and improving education and the general economy — not by building more and larger prisons.
With the hearing of defended matters, even in the criminal courts, being held up for nearly two years it would be little wonder if police prosecutors were watering down the summaries of some serious offending, in almost desperate attempts to reduce hearing lists by eliciting more guilty pleas.
Perhaps with Act pledging such outrageous and likely ineffective changes to our justice system, NZ First may be our only real hope to provide the “handbrake effect” against unworkable government law changes and edicts that other parties may try to enact if they become part of the next government.
