Opinion
Are the criminals who appear in our courts a bunch of badly dressed, poorly spoken layabouts, as Judge Callander complains, or are they victims of a hostile system?
We have a government that talks about reducing crime. One way to do that is to get rid of the causes of
crime.
Gambling and alcohol are underlying factors in producing so-called criminals. For the Government to issue licences for more poker machines in consideration for building a convention centre doesn't look right.
It's frustrating. But there are other frustrations, too.
Lately I've been very concerned about D Block at Auckland Prison in Paremoremo, where about 30 people are effectively kept in cages for 23 hours a day, sometimes for years on end. It's effectively solitary confinement.
