Privately run prisons are on the Government's agenda after Parliament today passed a bill allowing them to be handed over.

A senior judge has vowed to crack down on a violent crime wave, which he says is sometimes "little more than sheer sadism".

A jury finds double-killer Graeme Burton guilty of attempting to murder a fellow prison inmate.

A visitor to a women's prison has been arrested after staff found more than $20,000 and drugs worth $10,000 in his car.

Graeme Burton used a sharpened stainless steel rod to stab a prison inmate three times in the heart, the High Court hears.

A mentally ill patient restrained in solitary confinement for almost six years is one of several disturbing cases the Ombudsmen have uncovered.

Judith Collins' 'Crusher' nickname comes from her boy-racer policy but also feeds into her self-styled image as Govt hardwoman.

Tough decisions about prisons, education, pensions and tax need to be made if NZ is to avoid a looming Government debt crisis, says Treasury.