The transition from juvenile to adult criminal careers

NSW: More than 68 per cent of the juvenile offenders who appeared for the first time in the NSW Children's Court in 1995 reappeared in a NSW criminal court within the next eight years. More than one in 10 (i.e. 13 per cent) ended up in an adult prison within this period.

This is one of the main findings to emerge from a new study published today by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. The study identified a sample of 5,476 juvenile offenders who appeared in the NSW Children's Court for the first time in 1995 and followed them up for a period of eight years.

The researchers found that, within eight years of their first court appearance, juvenile offenders re-appear in court, on average, 3.5 times. Rates of re-appearance in court, however, are much higher for Indigenous offenders and those whose first court appearance occurred when they were relatively young.

Indigenous offenders re-appeared, on average, 8.3 times over the eight-year follow-up period, while those whose first court appearance occurred when they were 10-14 years of age, reappeared, on average, 5.2 times over this period. Indigenous males, who were aged 10-14 at their first court appearance, re-appeared 12 times.

More than half (57 per cent) of the juveniles examined in the study went on to appear in an adult court within the eight-year follow-up period. The likelihood of a juvenile re-appearing in an adult court, however, was higher for Indigenous offenders, those with a prior record and males.

More than ninety percent of Indigenous juvenile offenders who were aged 16 at their first court appearance, ended up in an adult court and eighty-five per cent of this group with two or more Children's Court appearances went on to appear in an adult court. Interestingly, the principal offence for which a juvenile is first brought to court, is not a good indicator of whether they will re-offend. Roughly equal proportions of those convicted of property or violent crimes went on to re-offend.

The Director of the Bureau, Dr Don Weatherburn, said the study findings highlighted the critical importance of intervening as early as possible to break the cycle of juvenile involvement in crime.

"This is not a job that can be carried out by the Department of Juvenile Justice acting on its own. If we want to reduce the risk of a juvenile getting involved in crime we need to improve their family life, their school performance and their physical and mental health. This can only be done if the Government agencies responsible for juvenile justice, family services, education and health work together to reduce the risk factors for juvenile involvement in crime".

Further enquiries: Dr Don Weatherburn on 9231-9190 or 0419 494-408

By Lawlink posted 27 May 05

Of course its all pie-in-the-sky

Government agencies and NGOs keeping their hands to themselves and off the kids whose stigmatisation justify their existence? That would be the day.

"The Director of the Bureau, Dr Don Weatherburn, said the study findings highlighted the critical importance of intervening as early as possible to break the cycle of juvenile involvement in crime."

Of course the figures could equally be read as suggesting that there should be *less* early intervention in young people's lives - especially by the NSW criminal justice system.

As Joanne Baker of the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research has shown, more than half of NSW young people have committed an imprisonable offence by the time they complete high school ("Juveniles in crime part 1: Participation rates and risk factors", Joanne Baker"). [BOCSAR, 1999).]

But the overwhelming majority of them are not caught, not charged and not dragged up before the Children's Court. And (what do you know?) they don't go on to become reoffenders, but rather become 'normal', 'law-abiding' citizens.

On the other hand, the heavily over-policed ones (e.g. Aboriginal kids) end up being dragged before the courts, stigmatised, told that they are criminals and locked up with a large group of other kids who have had the same experience. Lo and behold - they adopt criminal self-identification and go on to chronically reoffend.

No-one can argue against Weatherburn's suggestions of better health & education for disadvantaged communities. It sure beats more prison slots - which is the only thing the Carr government seems happy to invest in.

But please spare these kids the additional disruption and stigmatisation of having every government department and NGO shoving themselves into their lives in the name of 'early intervention' for 'kids at risk'. We've already had a long and sorry history of such 'early intervention' in Australia.

These days, we call the results 'the Stolen Generations'.

Related:

MISTREATED IN CUSTODY - NO ACCOUNTABILTY
NSW: Frank Crook's article (Violence an desperate outlet for caged fury: Daily Telegraph Tuesday May 10, 2005) draws attention to abuse and degrading treatment of inmates in NSW reported twenty and thirty years ago, and a lack of accountability of management practices within the NSW Department of Corrective Services.

PRISON ACTION & REFORM INC: Tas Prison Complaints
TASMANIA: Prison Action & Reform was formed in response to the five deaths in custody that occurred between August 1999 and January 2000. Chris Wever, Vickie Douglas, Rose Macaulay, Judith Santos and others came to together to fight for reform in an outdated, increasingly cash-strapped and uncaring system. Of the original members, three lost loved ones to the Tasmanian prison system.

Department of Corrective Services fails to rehabilitate offenders NSW: Unpopular people will be forced to wear tracking devices at a cost of $5,000 dollars per unit because the NSW Department of Corrective Services failed to rehabilitate those offenders at a cost of $65,000 a year while they were held in custody for many years.

Corrected or Corrupted
A psychiatrist from the prison Mental Health Team attached to Queensland Health made the comment that 25 per cent of inmates suffer from a diagnosed mental illness.

ICOPA XI International Conference on Penal Abolition
We are excited to announce that ICOPA X1, the eleventh International Conference on Penal Abolition will happen in Tasmania, Australia from February 9 - 11,2006. Please pass this onto all networks.

Ex-Prisoner Locked Out of Prison
The NSW Department of Corrective Services (DCS) has revealed a policy which bans ex-prisoners from entering prisons.

Justice Action: Access to our community
NSW: Justice Action went to the NSW Supreme Court before the last Federal election on the constitutional right for prisoners to receive information for their vote. The government avoided the hearing by bringing prisoners' mobile polling booths forward. We pursued it after the election. This is the report.

Why We Oppose Home Detention
NSW: Justice Action opposes the use of Home Detention (HD). It damages the family and the home for others without any consideration of the effects, or acknowledgement of the costs. It discriminates by disproportionately effecting women. Families become prison guards to their loved ones, and the home becomes an extension of the State.

MORE PRISONERS LOCKDOWNS HAVE OFFICERS ON EDGE
NSW POLICE Commissioner Ken Moroney has issued an ultimatum as well, to the lawless youths holding Sydney's streets to ransom?: Learn some respect or face jail?

Tough line on crime fills jails
The tough law-and-order policies of governments around the nation are behind an explosion in the prison population by almost 80 per cent in the past two decades.

LEGAL VISITS AT PARKLEA PRISON
I am a prisoner in NSW and I am currently held in Parklea Prison. I am concerned about what is going on in NSW prisons and this is my story.

Parklea Prison: No calls for six days
The last calls that were made out of Parklea Correctional Complex by my partner, an inmate in remand at Parklea, was on Wednesday 2 February. The phone lines for the inmates have been out of service to this date.

Prison visits in crisis in NSW
The reason I am writing today is to address a difficult situation that my husband and my family are going through. My husband is currently serving a sentence at Lithgow Correctional Centre in NSW.

Prison boom will prove a social bust
Hardened criminals are not filling NSW's prisons - the mentally ill and socially disadvantaged are, writes Eileen Baldry.

The prison system requires assiduous oversight
As NSW Attorney General Bob Debus noted in 1996: "The kinds of complaints which occur in the system may seem trivial to outsiders but in the superheated world of the prison, such issues can produce explosive results."

Crime and Punishment
Mark Findlay argues that the present psychological approach to prison programs is increasing the likelihood of re-offending and the threat to community safety.

Justice Denied In NSW Corrective Services
There used to be a (VJ) or Visiting Justice who would go into the prison and judge any claim or accusation that was made by any prisoner or prison guard. If it were found that a prisoner had offended then punishment was metered out.

Prison guards test positive for drugs
NSW prison visitors banned from using the toilet The visit is only for about one hour and any thing less than that is an insult. If it's proved that a visitor has broken the rules the punishment should apply to them. But collective punishment on all visitors should not be made general when others haven't broken the rules especially if it restricts all visitors from normal human needs like using a toilet.

NSW prison visitors banned from using the toilet
The New South Wales Government has introduced several initiatives to stop contraband getting into prisons they said last Friday. But under the guise of "stricter rules" the department had also introduced banning all visitors including children from using the toilet unless they terminate their visit at any NSW prison after using the toilet.

NSW Legislative Council's Inquiry on Home Detention
Justice Action's submissions Justice Action opposes the use of home detention, whether front-end or back-end, as a sentencing option in our criminal justice system.

Watchdogs slaughtered in NSW
On Tuesday the Carr Government reduced transparency and accountability yet again and New South Wales is in danger of becoming entrenched with cronyism and intimidations with the Carr Labor Government that continues to slaughter the watchdogs.

MISTREATED IN CUSTODY - NO ACCOUNTABILTY

Management Practices of NSW Department of Corrective Services

NSW: Frank Crook's article (Violence an desperate outlet for caged fury: Daily Telegraph Tuesday May 10, 2005) draws attention to abuse and degrading treatment of inmates in NSW reported twenty and thirty years ago, and a lack of accountability of management practices within the NSW Department of Corrective Services.

I was in custody in NSW six weeks ago, and was a victim of an aggravated assault incited by a prison officer. Despite this happening in front of many witnesses, including correctional services officers and other detainees, and under mandatory video surveillance, a formal complaint to the NSW Commissioner of Corrective Services an his Professional Conduct Management Committee only revealed that as far as they were concerned, this didn't happen.

My reports of many other abuses by their staff merely went unanswered.

The NSW Department of Corrective Services clearly needs an external watchdog, much like the Police Integrity Commission, as the DCS's Professional Conduct Committee will only work in its agency's interest.

The NSW Department of Corrective Services needs managerial reform and a professionalisation of its roles in order to stop this abuse of its powers. A performance management model of management is needed to make these rednecks accountable, or else the agency can look forward to getting sued.

Recently some corrective services officers in NSW have ended up behind bars themselves for their corrupt and criminal conduct. Perhaps we will see more of this if the NSW Department of Corrective Services doesn't have an overhaul.

The average Correctional Services Officer seems to be a violent and abusive redneck who, as a matter of luck, made it to 30 years old without obtaining a criminal record, and so gets at NSW Department of Corrective Services instead.

Set out below are my initial complaints in relation to my mistreatment and the subsequent response I received from those authorities, but the matter is not finished, obviously someone needs to make these people accountable.

If the agency investigates itself and the Ombudsman merely rubber stamps the investigation how is that going to fix a problem that may exist in an agency?

In short it's not fixed it's just like a virus it spreads and affects everyone else down the track. Everyone else making complaints as I did, everyone else ending up with answers that fall along way short of community expectations about whose really offending in our community. If people are going to have respect for the law then the law has to show some respect.

See for yourself how these people take no responsibility and how the oversight body rubber stamps the agencies investigation rather than investigates the matters independently of the said agency complained about. With respect it's a license to abuse the general public.

Letter to Mr Ron Woodham, Commissioner NSW Department of Corrective Services.

Dear Mr Ron Woodham,

I seek from you a response about unlawful conduct by your corrective services officers as requested below:

I was arrested on 27th of March. On the morning of 27th March I was taken to Parramatta Local Court and was admitted in custody. I was rough handled in police custody and in Parramatta court custody by police and Correctional Services Officers (CSOs) respectively. I believe video footage of the cells, and other mandatory surveillance mechanisms you have, will prove this. I was assaulted by another detainee whilst in a shared female cell at Parramatta Court.

I believe video footage will prove this. Please see enclosed police statement and review your video footage, and address my allegation that your CSO1, (who was a short blond man in his late 20's or early 30's, with brown eyes and who) I can identify by sight, incited aggravated violence by making the comments that he did. Please will you obtain the doctors report made by the custodial nurse and his witness that he saw on video footage that I was mistreated by a group of your CSOs.

CSO2, (who was of medium to chubby build, was short, had receding hair, olive skin and brown eyes and was in his late 20's or early 30's and who) I can identify by sight, called me a stupid bitch. He told me I was not going to get bail and that I'd better watch for all those big lesbians when I went to goal. I am a victim of sexual assault by both women and men and this is an appalling thing to say. He said this to taunt me, as he knew that I am a victim of sexual assault, as I had revealed this to CSO's when they were trying to talk me into being strip-searched.

I will point out to you that I had been arrested for an alleged breach of an AVO made in regards to allegations of intimidation, stalking, molestation and harassment. The allegation made that got me arrested was that I approached a person at a party when there is an order for me not to approach or contact that person. Your staff's conduct and the harm from it I endured was much worse than any allegations made on me.

After the court granted me bail I got sent to Mulawa for asking about my rights in regards to signing a Bail Undertaking Form 5A Clause 9. I asked the Administrator, who I can identify by sight, at Parramatta Court Custody if I "had to" sign it and they said yes. I then wanted to know the repercussions by law if I didn't, that is; is it a condition of bail that if I did not sign it they had the right not to release me. They would not tell me and would not let me consult with the lawyer present.

Now I am asking you within this letter to tell me and to refer to the applicable legislation. It is my right to be informed and decide on every document I sign. I do not believe that they had the right to detain me if I did not sign it. They punished me for this by shouting that my bail had been revoked and that I was being taken to gaol and they transported me to Mullawa. CSO2 said, "The Registrar has just revoked your bail in there - we went back in to Court and got it revoked." This is not true, is dishonest and is lawless.

At Mulawa, where I was detained for four hours, the CSO in charge "Kate", who I can identify by sight, told me in the presence of another CSO whom I could identify by sight that I looked like a prostitute in the outfit I was wearing. This was uncalled for. I believe the CSOs at Mulawa abuse the rights of vulnerable detainees for fun and I do not think that this woman's comments have anything to do with her job. I believe the CSO's at Mulawa have the integrity and moral development of child abusers. I am serious and not exaggerating: their unnecessary meanness, callousness and dishonesty and their enjoyment of abusing vulnerable people is of the same ilk.

All these incidents occurred with many CSOs present. I expect all of them will be recorded on video footage. I expect that all verbal incidents will be recorded on audio recording, and if not I would like you to explain to me why not. I can see how such conduct can manifest in a correctional services culture if there is no audio surveillance - that is they can say these things as they no there is no audio surveillance to prove it.

These methods and behaviour are unacceptable for people who work in the criminal justice system. This contravenes the values you are meant to uphold. I believe these methods and behaviours are an entrenched culture in custody and extend to the custodial police as well.

I am available to give descriptions and any other evidence and further detail. Please do not hesitate to contact me.

Teresa Kiernan (Ms)
enc police statement

28 March 2005

Response:

Alleged incident a Parramatta Court Escort Security Unit

Dear Ms Teresa Kieman,

I refer to your letter dated 28 March 2005, received at my office on 6 April 2005, in which you make a number of allegations, including that you were assaulted, during your time in custody at Parramatta CESU on 28 March 2005.

I referred your letter to the Professional Conduct Management Committee which cased inquiries to be made into your allegations.

I am informed that inquiries revealed that there is no video recording of any incident involving you during the time you were in custody at Parramatta. Justice Health Nurse Bob Cruickshank (who is not as you believed a medial practitioner), was asked his recollection of events. Mr Cruickshank recalls viewing a closed circuit television monitor when you were with custodial officers and he did not observe any improper actions by them.

Having considered all the evidence, the Professional Conduct Management Committee has decided to take no further action about the letter.

I am satisfied that your allegations have been properly addressed and I will not take any further action about this matter.

Ron Woodham
Commissioner
28 April 2005

Complaint to the Ombudsman

Subject: Aggravated violence/ Department of Corrective Services

I am very concerned about an act of aggravated violence that happened to me in court custody. Please see the enclosed copy police report which pertains to COPS event number E23617906.

I am writing to the NSW Ombudsman because this act of violence was aggravated as it was:

1. incited by a corrective service officer (CSO) at Parramatta Bail Court
2. in front of many other detainees and other CSOs.

Although the Parramatta police are currently investigating this matter I do not assume the police will necessarily investigate it to the full extent that it was a malicious and aggravated assault by a NSW public sector employee in a position of authority who deliberately abused a vulnerable detainee in his care.

This is because I assume the NSW Police have strategic and cultural links with Department of Corrective Services (DCS) as they share functionality. I believe they may share loyalty, camaraderie and purpose.

I imagine that the police will easily find video evidence that the assault happened and will easily be able to charge the woman who assaulted me.

However, the real injustice and outrage is that the CSO incited and set up the assault with language and timing. As there is no audio surveillance in police or court custody, the police and CSOs are cunning and adapt to this and can get away with such crime.

I believe that the woman who assaulted me was a vulnerable person (mentally ill, long history in and out of jail) and was just following orders of the CSO in authority who prompted her to bash me.

I would hate to see Parramatta Police's investigation dwindle away the serious nature of this crime (aggravated assault is a hideous crime) to a mere common assault charge for the woman. I would hate to see the CSO in question merely be investigated by the DCS as a concern about work conduct (although his conduct is of extraordinary concern) when what he did is a actually a malicious and serious crime. Recently in NSW jails people were murdered when they had asked for protection and didn't get it, and it concerns me the lack of surveillance, including audio surveillance, of staff and their own criminal behaviour could lead to this.

I would hope that the Department of Corrective Service's corrective service officer will get charged and the woman let off comparatively lightly for this.

Sincerely,
Teresa Kiernan (Ms)
Enc police report
15 April 2005

Complaint to Police

Inner Metropolitan Regional Commander
151 Goulburn Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010

Subject: administrative errors, or 'administrative errors', within the Kings Cross Police/accountability, police discretion

On 27th March 2005, I made a police statement to NSW Police at Kings Cross police station. I reported an aggravated assault in custody at Parramatta Bail Court that had occurred that day. I refer to Cops Event number E23617906 and associated Statement of a Witness made by me.

This aggravated assault was incited by a corrective services officer. This is something I regard as very grave and expect the police to as well.

Today I telephoned Parramatta police to check up on the progress of the investigation. (This was the third time I had done this.) This time I received the news from Officer Baghurst at Parramatta Police Station that this event had never been disseminated to Parramatta Police by Kings Cross Police. He read documentation about E23617906 and said that it declared that Kings Cross crime management had documented that the investigation was meant to go to Parramatta Police.

This evening I visited Kings Cross police and Constable Fitzhenry declared that an administrative error must have happened. They assured me they would disseminate it to Parramata right away.

How could Kings Cross police have made such an error? An aggravated assault is a serious crime, particularly when it is incited by a NSW corrective services officer. How could Kings Cross crime management let such an administrative error happen?

I fear that Kings Cross Police's administrative error greatly diminishes the prospects of this case. As a month has passed, it could be argued by police, or a defence, that my memory may have lapsed in regards to identifying witnesses, remembering sequences of events, etc. The corrective services officers involved have had time to conspire. The police often have the discretion to not investigate historical complaints.

Could Kings Cross crime management in fact have done this on purpose? Accidentally on purpose behaviour is an excellent way for the NSW Police to let the community down whilst remaining unaccountable.

I am concerned that Kings Cross police may have an incentive to let the community down in this circumstance as this is an aggravated assault in custody and the NSW Police have strategic links and loyalties with the Department of Corrective Services.

Previously, when I thought the matter was under investigation, I wrote to the Ombudsman and copied this correspondence to the Crime Manager of Parramatta Police Station. I have enclosed this letter for your perusal. I did this as I am using the Ombudsman to provide surveillance with this investigation.

It is a good thing I did, because so far the investigation hasn't gone very well, wouldn't you agree?

In addition, I am familiar with watchdog investigative bodies such as the Police Integrity Commission, the Commissioner of Police, my Minister for Police and Shadow Minister for Police, and the ICAC. And of course, Regional Commands.

On this occasion I have decided to appeal to you to give me answers why such a disgraceful assault wasn't treated as a priority by Kings Cross Police. I would also like you to investigate if this was a genuine administrative error. If it was, there is a problem with their process which lets the community down. Could you rectify?

Please confirm to me that NSW Police regard as aggravated assault in custody incited by a corrective services officer as a serious community concern.

Sincerely,

Teresa Kiernan (Ms)
enc Ombudsman
Saturday 25 April 2005

Response from the Ombudsman

Dear Ms Kiernan,

Your complaint about the Department of Corrective Services

This office is generally recognized as one of last resort. As a matter of policy, we expect that the agency concerned should first be given a chance to review a complaint about its conduct before we will take any action.

I have sent a copy of your complaint to the Commissioner of Corrective Services for assessment and review by the department's Professional Conduct Management Committee. I have asked the Commissioner to advise me of any action the committee decides to take. I have also asked the Commissioner to send me a copy of the report on any investigation arising from your complaint.

When I receive the Committee's advice an/or report, I will assess the department's handling of your complaint and the decision it makes. I may investigate the matter myself if I am not satisfied with the department's handling of your complaint.

I will contact you again when I have heard from the department, which I expect to be in a few months.

Mary McCleary
Investigation Officer, Corrections
For the NSW Ombudsman

By Teresa Kiernan 26 May 2005

REPORT: NSW Department of Corrective Services 2004

The Hon Charlie Lynn: How many complaints were there by inmates or staff assaulting or abusing inmates?

The Hon John Hatzistergos: I do not know. Do you want me to ask every inmate who was in every correctional centre how many people?

The Hon Charlie Lynn: No how many complaints were there. Do you have a complaints system or registration of complaints system?

Related:

Department of Corrective Services fails to rehabilitate offenders
NSW: Unpopular people will be forced to wear tracking devices at a cost of $5,000 dollars per unit because the NSW Department of Corrective Services failed to rehabilitate those offenders at a cost of $65,000 a year while they were held in custody for many years.

PRISON ACTION & REFORM INC: Tas Prison Complaints
TASMANIA: Prison Action & Reform was formed in response to the five deaths in custody that occurred between August 1999 and January 2000. Chris Wever, Vickie Douglas, Rose Macaulay, Judith Santos and others came to together to fight for reform in an outdated, increasingly cash-strapped and uncaring system. Of the original members, three lost loved ones to the Tasmanian prison system.

Corrected or Corrupted
A psychiatrist from the prison Mental Health Team attached to Queensland Health made the comment that 25 per cent of inmates suffer from a diagnosed mental illness.

ICOPA XI International Conference on Penal Abolition
We are excited to announce that ICOPA X1, the eleventh International Conference on Penal Abolition will happen in Tasmania, Australia from February 9 - 11,2006. Please pass this onto all networks.

Ex-Prisoner Locked Out of Prison
The NSW Department of Corrective Services (DCS) has revealed a policy which bans ex-prisoners from entering prisons.

Justice Action: Access to our community
NSW: Justice Action went to the NSW Supreme Court before the last Federal election on the constitutional right for prisoners to receive information for their vote. The government avoided the hearing by bringing prisoners' mobile polling booths forward. We pursued it after the election. This is the report.

Why We Oppose Home Detention
NSW: Justice Action opposes the use of Home Detention (HD). It damages the family and the home for others without any consideration of the effects, or acknowledgement of the costs. It discriminates by disproportionately effecting women. Families become prison guards to their loved ones, and the home becomes an extension of the State.

MORE PRISONERS LOCKDOWNS HAVE OFFICERS ON EDGE
NSW POLICE Commissioner Ken Moroney has issued an ultimatum as well, to the lawless youths holding Sydney's streets to ransom?: Learn some respect or face jail?

Tough line on crime fills jails
The tough law-and-order policies of governments around the nation are behind an explosion in the prison population by almost 80 per cent in the past two decades.

LEGAL VISITS AT PARKLEA PRISON
I am a prisoner in NSW and I am currently held in Parklea Prison. I am concerned about what is going on in NSW prisons and this is my story.

Parklea Prison: No calls for six days
The last calls that were made out of Parklea Correctional Complex by my partner, an inmate in remand at Parklea, was on Wednesday 2 February. The phone lines for the inmates have been out of service to this date.

Prison visits in crisis in NSW
The reason I am writing today is to address a difficult situation that my husband and my family are going through. My husband is currently serving a sentence at Lithgow Correctional Centre in NSW.

Prison boom will prove a social bust
Hardened criminals are not filling NSW's prisons - the mentally ill and socially disadvantaged are, writes Eileen Baldry.

The prison system requires assiduous oversight
As NSW Attorney General Bob Debus noted in 1996: "The kinds of complaints which occur in the system may seem trivial to outsiders but in the superheated world of the prison, such issues can produce explosive results."

Crime and Punishment
Mark Findlay argues that the present psychological approach to prison programs is increasing the likelihood of re-offending and the threat to community safety.

Justice Denied In NSW Corrective Services
There used to be a (VJ) or Visiting Justice who would go into the prison and judge any claim or accusation that was made by any prisoner or prison guard. If it were found that a prisoner had offended then punishment was metered out.

Prison guards test positive for drugs
NSW prison visitors banned from using the toilet The visit is only for about one hour and any thing less than that is an insult. If it's proved that a visitor has broken the rules the punishment should apply to them. But collective punishment on all visitors should not be made general when others haven't broken the rules especially if it restricts all visitors from normal human needs like using a toilet.

NSW prison visitors banned from using the toilet
The New South Wales Government has introduced several initiatives to stop contraband getting into prisons they said last Friday. But under the guise of "stricter rules" the department had also introduced banning all visitors including children from using the toilet unless they terminate their visit at any NSW prison after using the toilet.

NSW Legislative Council's Inquiry on Home Detention
Justice Action's submissions Justice Action opposes the use of home detention, whether front-end or back-end, as a sentencing option in our criminal justice system.

Watchdogs slaughtered in NSW
On Tuesday the Carr Government reduced transparency and accountability yet again and New South Wales is in danger of becoming entrenched with cronyism and intimidations with the Carr Labor Government that continues to slaughter the watchdogs.

Department of Corrective Services fails to rehabilitate offenders

NSW: Unpopular people will be forced to wear tracking devices at a cost of $5,000 dollars per unit because the NSW Department of Corrective Services failed to rehabilitate those offenders at a cost of $65,000 a year while they were held in custody for many years.

Labelled most unpopular they will wear a tracking device to prevent them from entering 'prohibited zones' while released on parole.

The device uses satellite tracking to monitor 'ex'-offenders and would send a signal to 'police and parole officers' if the 'ex-offenders moved into designated exclusion zones or removed the bracelet.

The 'ex' offenders would be required to wear an electronic strap around their ankle or wrist and carry a box unit about the size of a large mobile phone.

The Fascist State Government is trialling the devices and has bought three units for $5000 each.

'Ex' offenders will wear them as part of their parole conditions - set by the new 'Parole Police Board'.

GKCNN reports: Dictator Bob Carr should have said..

The Parole Police Board would be able to order unpopular people to wear electronic bracelets or anklets and carry so-called STAR Unit!

The satellite technology would be used to track the 'ex'-offenders to within five metres of their location.

Anyone can become unpopular even a pest

[The technology] allows [the Department of Corrective Services] to throw off its responsibility of rehabilitating convicted offenders and instead, after long periods of warehousing and negative reinforcement, release them on a lead and make the community fund the draconian gadgets at a cost of $5,000 dollars per unpopular person and if they cast a wider net 'you could be wearing them' too!

Closely tracking the movements of the 'ex'-offender, effectively trapping the - ex-offender in an electronic bubble, Carr should have said... at a press conference today.

If you read the original article in the SMH you'll notice that Carr regarded the ex-offenders as offenders? Why? It's easy to sell the gadget if they are hated more - they are offenders that need to be tracked but not people who've served their sentence and should have received education and programs.

This is a dictator's device and will be widely used for unpopular people down the track. We must protect all citizens from draconian electronic surveillance at all material times, no matter how unpopular our 'Politicians' regard these people, from all walks of life.

Next thing they'll want to put them under your skin

Carr: "It's an extra protection for potential victims and it's one way of making parole conditions more effective.''

But this is a failure by the NSW Department of Corrective Services to rehabilitate offenders at $65,000 dollars per year.

Why should taxpayers pay an additional $5,000 per 'ex'-offender after their release on security of all things, not housing or a job, all because DCS failed over many years to rehabilitate them? That can only lead them straight back to prison!

An Alarm Should Sound in the Community!

Carr said an alarm would sound if and 'offender' approached an area they are banned from such as a school, child-care centre or victim's home.

Carr the dictator said the alarm would also sound if the offenders did not carry the STAR unit or tried to remove the anklet or bracelet.

But can you imagine being accidentally in the wrong place? And this alarm going off? That's just madness and could cause an alarm and affront, a heart attack or even a serious accident.

Injustice Minister John Hatzistergos would not speculate on how many people might be fitted with the devices? But he should have said it was a matter for the new Parole Police Board.

NSW Opposition spokesman on justice Andrew Tink wanted to say something but Tink you Stink and so does the Neo-Liberals, right around the county, we may as well vote for the Natzi party.

This [technology] encourages the failure of the Department of Corrective Services and hinges on the views of the new Parole Police Board.

Why We Oppose Home Detention

NSW: Justice Action opposes the use of Home Detention (HD). It damages the family and the home for others without any consideration of the effects, or acknowledgement of the costs. It discriminates by disproportionately effecting women. Families become prison guards to their loved ones, and the home becomes an extension of the State.

Sex Offenders:

Most child sex offenders are single time offenders.

The recidivism rate for sex offenders is about a quarter the general offender recidivism rate.

The majority of sex offenders are never reported, convicted or imprisoned anyway.

And the sex offender treatment programs they use in Australian prisons actually *increase* the risk of future sex offending, particularly violent offending. (the 'Treating Sex Offenders' powerpoint - pages labelled 'Negative Outcomes').

So, overall, the best policy might be to do the same with the small proportion of identified sex offenders as we do with the majority of those who aren't identified.

Just leave them alone. Or, you could try restorative justice programs that encourage them to admit the injury, trauma and damage they cause, undertake to identify and change the behaviour that led to the offence (e.g. alcohol use, misogynist attitudes, etc) and negotiate some form of restitution - either directly to their victim (who is probably a partner, [former] friend or family member) or to the community they come from.

But that wouldn't be anywhere near harsh enough for the law and order freaks now would it?

Better to inflict some horrendous punishment and permanent stigma that may turn the offender into a violent sociopath whose next offence will be far worse than the one they were originally convicted of.

Rockspiders: Police, Teachers, Childcare Owners, and Uncle Pervy!

Police have indicated there will be hundreds more arrests as part of Australia's largest ever crackdown on child pornography even though it is some of the police themselves? Authorities have so far charged more than 190 people with a total of 2000 offences and seized more than two million pornographic images.

By Just Us 26 May 05

Related:

Sex Offender Links

South Aust politicians and police paedophiles in parliament house
The South Australian Government will try to muster support today for its unprecedented legislation to remove parliamentary privilege covering recent paedophile allegations against public officials.

Child porn investigation hits school morale
The Primary Principals Association says the ongoing investigation into child pornography in Victoria is having an impact on morale in the state's school system.

Partners of Paedophiles support group in demand
A Partners of Paedophiles support group says it has received an influx of calls after a police operation in which hundreds of Australians have been accused of possessing child pornography.

Dr Louise Porter on protecting children
"When I say that rewards and punishments have limited success what I mean is at the most they can only ever teach children to do as they're told and I think that's a very dangerous thing to do for children.

Expert says child porn investigation tip of iceberg
A leading expert on child abuse says the current New South Wales police investigation into child pornography is just the tip of the iceberg.

Police offer protection to family following gang rape allegations
The parents of a 14-year-old girl claim their daughter was gang-raped in Sydney earlier this year, and have raised concerns about corrupt policeman Detective Sergeant Christopher Laycock's review of the case.

NSW police prosecutor charged with child porn possession
A New South Wales police prosecutor has been charged with the possession of child pornography.

Rockspiders: Police, Teachers, Childcare Owners, and Uncle Pervy!
Police have indicated there will be hundreds more arrests as part of Australia's largest ever crackdown on child pornography even though it is some of the police themselves? Authorities have so far charged more than 190 people with a total of 2000 offences and seized more than two million pornographic images.

Police, teachers charged in child porn bust
One-hundred-and-fifty people, including police officers and teachers, have been arrested in what the Federal Police (AFP) describe as Australia's biggest Internet child pornography bust.

Child sex offenders to be monitored in NSW
New South Wales Police Minister John Watkins says convicted child sex offenders in south-western Sydney will be monitored during a six-month trial.

Restorative Justice Conferences
Two Restorative Justice-related conferences will be held days apart in February and March 2005, in Australia.

NSW: Rapists more criminally versatile than Paedophiles
Parents to be given paedophile details? But rapists are more criminally versatile than Paedophiles! So who let the dogs out? Police Minister John Watkins! That's who.

NSW Prisons Inmate Development Committee speaks out
I am writing on behalf of the IDC Inmate Development Committee in area 3, MSPC at Long Bay. Area 3 is where, the Department is congregating minimum-security offenders within maximum-security walls whilst awaiting mandatory programs at Cubit (Sex Offenders Program).

Vic database to track sex offenders' movements
The Sex Offenders Registration Bill is due to be tabled in Parliament later this week. Sex offenders will have to tell police if they change their names, address or work and will not be allowed to work with children.

Today Sex offenders TOMMORROW YOU!
To suggest there is a need to restrict their movement is rubbish! This is a grab for civil liberties in NSW and it offends everyone else who is free to associate because soon it could be you who is restricted or someone you know.

Gang-rape, police, disparity and the law..
The young woman and her friend have told police they met the players in Coffs Harbour on the evening after the Bulldogs played a trial match there and went back to the team's hotel with them.

Govt stands by child sex offender program
The Western Australian Government is standing by a taxpayer-funded agency that offers conditional confidentiality to child sex offenders.

Therapy key for teen sex offenders
US: One girl allegedly was raped in the boys' bathroom at Folsom High School on a warm midday in March. Another told officials the same boy, a freshman at the school, had tried to rape her days earlier in a girls' bathroom. Two other girls told investigators the boy had committed lesser sex crimes against them at school within the previous week. If true, such a pattern of escalation is worrisome, according to experts who study and treat sex offenders.

Prison Links:

Corrected or Corrupted
A psychiatrist from the prison Mental Health Team attached to Queensland Health made the comment that 25 per cent of inmates suffer from a diagnosed mental illness.

ICOPA XI International Conference on Penal Abolition
We are excited to announce that ICOPA X1, the eleventh International Conference on Penal Abolition will happen in Tasmania, Australia from February 9 - 11,2006. Please pass this onto all networks.

Ex-Prisoner Locked Out of Prison
The NSW Department of Corrective Services (DCS) has revealed a policy which bans ex-prisoners from entering prisons.

Justice Action: Access to our community
NSW: Justice Action went to the NSW Supreme Court before the last Federal election on the constitutional right for prisoners to receive information for their vote. The government avoided the hearing by bringing prisoners' mobile polling booths forward. We pursued it after the election. This is the report.

Why We Oppose Home Detention
NSW: Justice Action opposes the use of Home Detention (HD). It damages the family and the home for others without any consideration of the effects, or acknowledgement of the costs. It discriminates by disproportionately effecting women. Families become prison guards to their loved ones, and the home becomes an extension of the State.

MORE PRISONERS LOCKDOWNS HAVE OFFICERS ON EDGE
NSW POLICE Commissioner Ken Moroney has issued an ultimatum as well, to the lawless youths holding Sydney's streets to ransom?: Learn some respect or face jail?

Tough line on crime fills jails
The tough law-and-order policies of governments around the nation are behind an explosion in the prison population by almost 80 per cent in the past two decades.

LEGAL VISITS AT PARKLEA PRISON
I am a prisoner in NSW and I am currently held in Parklea Prison. I am concerned about what is going on in NSW prisons and this is my story.

Parklea Prison: No calls for six days
The last calls that were made out of Parklea Correctional Complex by my partner, an inmate in remand at Parklea, was on Wednesday 2 February. The phone lines for the inmates have been out of service to this date.

Prison visits in crisis in NSW
The reason I am writing today is to address a difficult situation that my husband and my family are going through. My husband is currently serving a sentence at Lithgow Correctional Centre in NSW.

Prison boom will prove a social bust
Hardened criminals are not filling NSW's prisons - the mentally ill and socially disadvantaged are, writes Eileen Baldry.

The prison system requires assiduous oversight
As NSW Attorney General Bob Debus noted in 1996: "The kinds of complaints which occur in the system may seem trivial to outsiders but in the superheated world of the prison, such issues can produce explosive results."

Crime and Punishment
Mark Findlay argues that the present psychological approach to prison programs is increasing the likelihood of re-offending and the threat to community safety.

Justice Denied In NSW Corrective Services
There used to be a (VJ) or Visiting Justice who would go into the prison and judge any claim or accusation that was made by any prisoner or prison guard. If it were found that a prisoner had offended then punishment was metered out.

Prison guards test positive for drugs
NSW prison visitors banned from using the toilet The visit is only for about one hour and any thing less than that is an insult. If it's proved that a visitor has broken the rules the punishment should apply to them. But collective punishment on all visitors should not be made general when others haven't broken the rules especially if it restricts all visitors from normal human needs like using a toilet.

NSW prison visitors banned from using the toilet
The New South Wales Government has introduced several initiatives to stop contraband getting into prisons they said last Friday. But under the guise of "stricter rules" the department had also introduced banning all visitors including children from using the toilet unless they terminate their visit at any NSW prison after using the toilet.

NSW Legislative Council's Inquiry on Home Detention
Justice Action's submissions Justice Action opposes the use of home detention, whether front-end or back-end, as a sentencing option in our criminal justice system.

Watchdogs slaughtered in NSW
On Tuesday the Carr Government reduced transparency and accountability yet again and New South Wales is in danger of becoming entrenched with cronyism and intimidations with the Carr Labor Government that continues to slaughter the watchdogs.

Sir David Longland Correctional Centre
The exercise yards in all units in B Block are now closed in with extra cladding to all external surfaces. No direct sunlight ever comes into the exercise yards at any time of the day. Block walling surround more than three-quarters of the yard. A portion of one wall is covered in with compressed steel mesh with small holes, plus another mesh fence being the original fence. No fresh air comes into these yards because of the mesh and the fact that there is no cross ventilation for air to pass through the yard. The roofing of all unit exercise yards in B Block have been covered in stopping any sunlight. In the summer months, heat generated from the tin roofing over the exercise yards makes the yard so hot, normal use is avoided.

SIR DAVID LONGLAND CORRECTIONAL CENTRE QLD - CELLS IN B BLOCK The cells in B Block are like no other in any Queensland prison. After Mr. Cooper was severally embarrassed by the Abbott and Co escape on 4th November 1997, he visited B Block and the surrounding grounds. It was that visit, by Cooper, that set in motion a plan (up the ante) to make sure security in B Block would never embarrass him again. It was like closing the gate after the horse has bolted.

Inspector General Ignored On Womens Prison
Four months after a report from the Inspector General on Mulawa Correctional Centre, key recommendations involving safety and welfare of prisoners and staff have been ignored. Kathryn Armstrong (former chair of Inmate Development Committee) and Annabel Walsh, released from Mulawa Womens Prison in February, have produced an independent report confirming the findings of the Inspector General.

Prison Privatisation: Death camps looming in NSW
I asked for the identification of the person I was speaking to and was told that I was not entitled to that information. I needed to verify the call and asked for a name or number to register my call because I was asked to get those details by my coordinator.The person refused to identify themselves either by name or number. I asked to be transferred to a senior person and was refused. The person I spoke to then hung up the phone.

Corrections Victoria and criminal acts: SCS-4\320 UPDATE
You have stated "Section 30 of the Corrections Act 1986 and the Information Privacy Act 2000, restricts the release of confidential information regarding prisoners, I therefore am unable to provide any information regarding this matter."

Death camps looming in Victoria
A letter was received on 15 January 03 from SCS-4\320 a remand prisoner in Victoria's Barwon Prison I later found out that the prisoner was in the Acacia High Security Unit.

Civil libertarians condemn planned changes to prisoners' privacy rights The New South Wales Government is using a recent case involving [framed] serial killer Ivan Milat to justify its decision to remove the privacy rights of prisoners. But really just another attack on Ivan Milat from Parliament House.

Black Nexus
The Separation of Powers Doctrine is nowcontaminated witharangeofcolours, now leaving us with a black shirt on a once blue bridge that crossed that thin blue line. The 'Amery and Woodham show'.

Prison Mind Games-Do they exist?
Directives are given inside the prison system that are not consistent with the law in NSW. And not in the good interests of the health and well being of the prisoners.

The Government is likely to abolish the Inspector General of Corrective Services position The Mulawa inspection report recommendations below strictly illustrate how important he is.

Preventing Prisoner Rape

Here in Adelaide we have recently formed an organisation called Preventing Prisoner Rape which is aiming to raise awareness about the issue of rape in prisons, to try to bring in appropriate law reform and changes to prison administration, and also to reach out and support prison rape survivors.

I'll just fill you in on a little of the history.

In the early 1990s I worked within welfare and education at Long Bay Prison and was horrified by some of the stories I heard from young guys there who had been subjected to assault.

The stories I heard facilitating groups with transgender inmates were also horrible. At the same time I was asked by Dulwich Centre, an independent counselling, community work and publishing house here in Adelaide (which had been involved in responding to the Deaths in Custody Royal Commission in partnership with Aboriginal Health) to put together a book about prisons - or more accurately alternatives to prisons.

This became the book 'Beyond the prison: Gathering dreams of freedom'. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I undertook research for this book and this took me to various places including New York City where I met Stephen Donaldson, one of the key early members of Stop Prisoner Rape in the US.

I have stayed in touch with the work of this grass roots organisation ever since and recently visited their headquarters in LA. Stop Prisoner Rape in the US has had amazing success in the last few years in making the issue of prison rape a national issue. So much so that a federal law has now been passed and every state government is required to take a 'zero tolerance policy' to rape in prison.

Stephen Donaldson (who has since died of AIDS -he acquired HIV through rape in prison) would be amazed at what has been achieved. There is now money and research and more importantly significant action being taken to address the issue of prisoner rape in the US.

I actually find it very inspiring what they have achieved. When I met Stephen the organisation was just operating from his apartment.

Anyway, there is a group of us here in Adelaide who are now determined to try to do something similar here in Australia. I want to let you know about what we are doing at present:

* We have developed a draft prisoner rape support package that we wish to make available to current prisoners or ex-prisoners who have experienced sexual violence in detention.

* We are seeking stories, documents, records, reports of prison rape from across Australia so that we can start to build a case that this is an issue that needs to be taken seriously and addressed in this country.

* We have approached a number of lawyers to see if they would be interested in investigating the possibility of introducing legislation inspired by that which has been and is being developed in the US.

* We are just beginning to make links with other groups committed to prison reform, prison action, prison abolition, prisoner support and so on.

* We have good links with the Stop Prisoner Rape people in the US who wish to support us in anyway that they can and we may arrange for one of their workers to visit and give a speaking tour in the future.

We would really value hearing from any of you about ideas, suggestions, stories, connections about this issue.

It was only yesterday that I heard of the work of Vickie Douglas from the Prison Reform Group in Tasmania and I had contact with Vickie I also hope to meet up with more of you in the future in person, or on the phone, or via email.

I know very little about the situation in Tasmania but look forward to learning more. I have considerable respect for all the work that you are involved in.

Warm regards,

David Denborough
On behalf of Preventing Prisoner Rape
Staff writer
Dulwich Centre Publications
Email: writings@compuserve.com

By David Denborough posted 25 May 05

Tasmania PAR banned from Risdon

Vickie Douglas founded Prison Action and Reform after the gross failures of the system took the life of her young son after he was raped.

Craig Annesley: Miscarriage of Justice

While doing the Order full-time, I was raped in gaol in March 1998, 2.5 weeks later I was taken to a Rape Clinic at Westmead. The Police attended and were to meet me 2 days after to take my statement. This second meeting never happened. I lodged a victim's compensation claim over this incident only to have it refused, as I was a convicted inmate at the time of the alleged offence? That is discrimination as far as I'm concerned.

Related:

Torture not acceptable on anyone: Community!
Australia: A former chairman of the National Crime Authority has spoken out in favour of torture for John HoWARd and the Neo-Cons no doubt, saying it should be used against terrorists and in domestic criminal situations but not against QC's?

PRISON ACTION & REFORM INC: Tas Prison Complaints
TASMANIA: Prison Action & Reform was formed in response to the five deaths in custody that occurred between August 1999 and January 2000. Chris Wever, Vickie Douglas, Rose Macaulay, Judith Santos and others came to together to fight for reform in an outdated, increasingly cash-strapped and uncaring system. Of the original members, three lost loved ones to the Tasmanian prison system.

Torture can never be justified
I am forwarding the following statement issued by AMCRAN in regards to a paper: "Not Enough (Official) Torture in the World? The Circumstances in which Torture is Morally Justifiable" written by Professor Mirko Bagaric, Head of Deakin Law School & Julie Clarke, Lecturer, Deakin Law School, in which they justify torture.

Tasmanian prison support visit
Prisoners from Risdon Prison and Prison Action & Reform (PAR) in Tasmania have requested support from the Australian Prisoners Union and Justice Action following the siege in the prison ending on May 9.

Torture okay: propaganda paper
Mean in Black John HoWARd and Pastor Peter Costello with Professor Mirko Bagaric, and fellow Deakin lecturer Julie Clarke, torture okay for them. Question?

Prison Action & Reform challenge the Attorney General
Members of Prison Action & Reform are furious with the latest lies from the Attorney General -- Judy Jackson, and demand that she produce evidence to support her ludicrous claims.

Tasmania PAR banned from Risdon
Vickie Douglas founded Prison Action and Reform after the gross failures of the system took the life of her young son after he was raped.

Chronology of a Tasmanian Prison System: A Documented Report
We believe that the people of Tasmania - both victims of crime and the general public - have the right to know that the Tasmania Prison Service is delivering a humane and just system of containment that is conducive to the reintegration of inmates back into Tasmanian society.

Risdon prisoners' seize prison to protest mistreatment
Apparently one prisoner had been mistreated and held in isolation in an SHU (Segregation Housing Unit) [Solitary Confinement] because, he'd had and altercation with a screw. SHUs cause severe mental harm - regarded as torture - and are a cruel, inhumane and degrading way to keep prisoners.

No Safe Place
In a brief four month span from August 1999, five men died in Tasmania's Risdon prison. Their deaths have put the state's corrections system in the dock and led to the planned demolition of a jail which even the State's Attorney-General now calls an "appalling facility".

Craig Annesley: Miscarriage of Justice
While doing the Order full-time, I was raped in gaol in March 1998, 2.5 weeks later I was taken to a Rape Clinic at Westmead. The Police attended and were to meet me 2 days after to take my statement. This second meeting never happened. I lodged a victim's compensation claim over this incident only to have it refused, as I was a convicted inmate at the time of the alleged offence? That is discrimination as far as I'm concerned.

Association for the Prevention of Torture
The Optional Protocol requires 20 ratifications to enter into force. All States Parties to the UN Convention against Torture should seriously consider ratifying the OPCAT as soon as possible. National Institutions and others promoting the human rights of people deprived of their liberty need to be informed of their potential role as national preventive mechanisms under the OPCAT.

Corrected or Corrupted
A psychiatrist from the prison Mental Health Team attached to Queensland Health made the comment that 25 per cent of inmates suffer from a diagnosed mental illness.

ICOPA XI International Conference on Penal Abolition
We are excited to announce that ICOPA X1, the eleventh International Conference on Penal Abolition will happen in Tasmania, Australia from February 9 - 11,2006. Please pass this onto all networks.

Ex-Prisoner Locked Out of Prison
The NSW Department of Corrective Services (DCS) has revealed a policy which bans ex-prisoners from entering prisons.

Justice Action: Access to our community
NSW: Justice Action went to the NSW Supreme Court before the last Federal election on the constitutional right for prisoners to receive information for their vote. The government avoided the hearing by bringing prisoners' mobile polling booths forward. We pursued it after the election. This is the report.

Number of prisoners sent back to jail trebles

UK/Return to prison increases 247%

UK: The number of prisoners being sent back to jail after release has nearly trebled in the past five years, according to a report published today.

Most of those people returning to prison have been sent back because they have breached the conditions of their licence - which releases them into the community under the supervision of the probation service - and not because they have committed further criminal offences, the report by the Prison Reform Trust said.

The charity, which campaigns for a more humane and effective penal system, wants the probation service to increase support to prisoners on licence in order that they understand the conditions of their release.

The prison service should also always explain to prisoners why they are back in prison, so that they have time, if appropriate, to appeal the decision, the charity said.

Enver Solomon, the author of the report, Recycling Offenders Through Prison, said today: "This story isn't just about the figures but more about why these figures have gone up, why people are returned to custody and why can't they cope?"

Mr Solomon said he knew of cases where prisoners with learning difficulties had been recalled to prison after failing, as part of their license agreements, to attend probation meetings because they were unable to distinguish between Thursday and Tuesday.

He said: "These prisoners have returned to prison not because they pose a threat to public safety but because they have needs which aren't being met."

Juliet Lyon, director of the trust, said: "The current system for breach of licence and recall sets people up to fail. Arrangements designed to be tough and fair are too often turning out to be punitive and unjust."

The number of prisoners recalled to custody for breaching their licence in 2000-2001 was 2,333, according to official figures from the Home Office. By 2003-4, that figure had soared to 8,103 - an increase of 247%.

The report revealed that in a three-month period at the end of last year, 8% of offenders on parole who had been sentenced to more than four years' imprisonment were sent back to prison for committing another criminal offence.

But for prisoners who had served shorter sentences, between 12 months and four years, the number being recalled for re-offending rose to 40%. However, the report said, reconviction rates for people serving shorter sentences were traditionally higher.

The Home Office said the increase in the number of prisoners released on license being recalled to jail reflected improved performance by the probation service.

A spokeswoman said: "The increase in recall of prisoners reflects our overriding concern to protect the public from further offending and sends a clear signal that we will not tolerate poor behaviour from those offenders serving a sentence in the community."

The report comes as the prison population in England and Wales has reached a record high of 75,877, an increase of 25,000 prisoners over the last decade.

Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, said the increase in the number of released prisoners returning to prison was due to Home Office targets introduced five years ago.

He said: "The Home Office set rigorous enforcement targets for prisoners so that anybody who failed to turn up for three appointments with their probation officer while on licence was automatically returned to prison. Our professional discretion was taken away. "The government has to decide whether it wants to continue to go down the path of punishment and enforcement or reintroduce professional discretion, rehabilitation and reform."

By Debbie Andalo Wednesday May 25, 2005

Related:

Top judge says crowded prisons cannot break cycle of crime
UK: Reoffending rates after a prison sentence are at an "unacceptably high level" and the failure of the criminal justice system to stop prisoners reoffending should shock the public, England's top judge, [Ruling Class] Lord Woolf, said last week.

All the World's a Prison: History
No doubt many of my readers, even those who are well-educated or widely read, think that the prison -- the place where dark deeds are darkly answered[2] -- is an ancient institution, a barbaric hold-over from barbaric times. In fact, the prison is of relatively recent origin, and this tells us a great deal about the pretentions and realities of modern times, and the wisdom and high degree of development of the ancients.

Decade after inspector left in disgust, report tells of filth
UK: Dirty, mice-infested cells, high levels of self-harm, and widespread bullying over drugs and medications were just some of the damning findings of a report into conditions at Holloway, Britain's largest women's prison.

Most women 'should not be jailed'
Women make up 6% of the prison population in England and Wales. Imprisonment of women should be "virtually abolished", a prison reform group has said.

Youth 'murdered for officers' pleasure'
UK: An Asian teenager was murdered by a white racist after they were placed in the same cell as part of a game to fulfil the "perverted pleasure" of prison officers, a public inquiry heard on Friday.

Deaths in isolation as prison segregation increases
The use of segregation [solitary confinement] of prisoners as punishment has been increasing recently in Australia, the US, and the UK. Segregation can be used for protection or punishment, but in both cases it results in extreme psychological stress. An indication that segregation is being over-used is the appearance of deaths in custody from suicide of those placed in segregation.

Inquest blames jail for overdose death
UK: An inquest jury returned a verdict itemising a catalogue of faults at Styal prison in Cheshire, concluding that the prison's "failure of duty of care" contributed to the death of Sarah Campbell, 18, who took an overdose of tablets on the first day of her three-year sentence.

Put in the way of self-harm in a place intended to protect others
UK: Sarah Campbell, 18, spent the last hours of her life in the segregation unit of Styal prison, Cheshire. "The seg", as those places are referred to, used to be known as "the block", short for punishment block. [ Seg is a bullshit word for Punishment, Solitary Confinement, Torture, Mental Illness, Self-Harm, Human Rights Abuse and that is State Terror.]

Britain 'sliding into police state'
The home secretary, Charles Clarke, is transforming Britain into a police state, one of the country's former leading anti-terrorist police chiefs [false flag police chiefs] said yesterday.

UK solitary confinement
UK: Segregation units are prisons within prisons - the places where the most unchecked brutality is meted out to prisoners. In recent years conditions in high security segregation units have deteriorated, and the use of long-term segregation as a control mechanism has increased.

Inquiry must root out prison racists
UK: It is difficult to imagine a more brutal murder than that of Zahid Mubarek. The 19-year-old was clubbed to death by his cellmate at Feltham Young Offender Institution in the early hours of 21 March 2000. He was due to be released just a few hours later.

Prison suicides soar as jails hire 'babysitters'
UK: Prison officers are being taken off suicide watch and replaced by unqualified 'babysitters' because the system is overwhelmed by an epidemic of self-harm.

Plan to sell off juvenile jails as job lot
UK: The government is to put out to tender all its dedicated juvenile jails that hold children under 18 in a departure in Whitehall's privatisation programme.

Failure to sack 'racist' prison staff condemned
UK: Two prison officers suspended for racism are still on full pay three years after a stash of Nazi memorabilia, neo-fascist literature and Ku Klux Klan-inspired 'nigger-hunting licences' was found in a police raid on their home.

Report slams 'unjust' jailing of women on remand
UK: Six out of 10 women sent to jail while they await trial are acquitted or given a non-custodial sentence, a report published today reveals. Introducing the report, Lady Kennedy QC calls for a complete review of the use of remand and bail for women saying it is "inhumane and unjust".

Concern as UK prison suicides hit record level
UK: More prisoners took their own lives in English jails in August than in any other month since records began, prison reformers said today.

End of years of despair as Holloway closes its doors
But now Holloway prison in north London - where Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain, was hanged in 1955 - has been earmarked for closure, along with several other women's prisons, which have been hit by a spate of suicides.

How detox and self-help brought suicide jail back from the brink
UK: Six suicides in 12 months made Styal jail notorious and the Prisons Ombudsman criticised the prison and its staff for serious failures. But things are changing.

Belmarsh detainees consider suicide, says freed man
UK: The first of the Muslim detainees released from Belmarsh high security prison after being held on suspicion of terrorism has told the Guardian his fellow prisoners are suffering such severe mental problems that they constantly consider suicide.

Suicides and unrest have soared, admits Home Office
UK:The already overcrowded prison population is set to go on rising and will top 80,000 within the next three years, a senior Home Office civil servant warned yesterday.

England tops the EU in imprisonment
England and Wales jail more offenders per capita than any other European, Union country, according to new figures.

THE LIFE OF WHALES OVER-RIDES HUMAN LIFE:

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, has voiced his "respect" for the life of whales.

Mr Howard has warned Japan that it faces global condemnation if it kills whales. Mr Howard is often quoted as saying he cannot and he would not interfere in the business and laws of sovereign states. Whaling is a part of the Japanese culture. The death penalty is also a part of many countries culture.

However, unlike human life, the life of whales concerns Mr Howard. He has taken the unusual step of intervening personally, writing to his counterpart Junichiro Koizumi, strongly advising him to withdraw Japan's bid to hunt whales or prepare for a worldwide backlash.

"Whales bring great delight to 1.6 million tourists, domestic and international, who enjoy whale-watching. This is clear evidence of the extent of public interest in the continued health and welfare of whales and considerable public concern could be expected, not only in Australia, but across the globe," said Mr Howard.

Mr Howard seems to have his priorities messed-up. He refusal to voice opposition to the barbaric use of the death penalty in sovereign states is a sign of weakness. What he should be doing is taking action from the diplomatic niceties to a little more tough talk concerning the most fundamental right - the right to human life.

Animal rights groups have thanked Mr Howard for expressing his concerns against the killing of whales.

In the meantime ... human rights groups are still waiting, and calling on Mr Howard to express his concerns against the killing of human beings.

By ACADP posted 25 May 05

******************************************
AUSTRALIAN COALITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY
© ACADP Incorporated ¨
ACADP@ACADP.com
******************************************
The Premier Australian Internet
Resource on Capital Punishment

Ed: I think it's the tourism thing you know, the $20 billion a year for tourism and whale watching opposed to nothing for a dead drug trafficker accept some political posturing by John Howard, Phillip Ruddock and the AFP.

Just like convicting 'anyone' for a tourist crime regardless of proof like a weapon or a body or a true confession rather than arranging an alleged prison confession etc...

All alleging that the Australian Government is doing the right thing by letting the AFP (change the system) in relation to what information they are now prepared to give countries like Indonesia that harbour the DEATH PENALTY in relation to an Australian Citizen under an AFP investigation - and at all material times the AFP knowing full well that the maximum penalty and the likelihood for a drug crime in Indonesia is death by a firing squad.

Related:

THE DEATH PENALTY - WORLDWIDE
During 2004, at least 3,797 people were executed in 25 countries. At least 7,395 people were sentenced to death in 64 countries. These figures are only reported cases - the true figures were certainly much higher - many countries continue to execute people in secret.

WHY IS THE HOWARD GOVERNMENT PLAYING 'DEATH' WITH AUSTRALIANS:
There has been much controversy recently on whether the Australian Federal Police should have tipped-off the Indonesians over the arrest of the Bali Nine. Due to the fact that Indonesia executes convicted drug-traffickers, ACADP believes that any evidence collected by AFP should have been withheld from Indonesian authorities until they have a written guarantee not to pursue the death penalty for the Bali Nine.

Death penalty-free zone in Europe and Central Asia
A coalition of non-governmental organizations is calling for a death penalty-free zone in Europe and Central Asia.

THE HIDDEN TRUTH ABOUT EXECUTIONS:
For death row inmates in Indonesia, execution usually comes on a deserted beach or remote jungle at the hands of a paramilitary firing squad. And, it rarely comes fast.

DESTROY CHEMICALS OF MASS DESTRUCTION:
The Australian Coalition Against Death Penalty (ACADP) is (again) calling on U.S. President George W. Bush, to join the civilised world and destroy all chemicals of mass destruction, for the dignity and respect of every human life.

LIFE ON A THREAD:
The difference between life and death can rest on the whim of a president or the ability of a lawyer. Whether or not the death penalty can be justified is very much up for grabs.

THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK:
US: The American media reports that thousands of Iranians cheered, whistled and clapped as a serial killer was publicly executed in Iran last week.

USA - FEELING THE HEAT FROM INTERNATIONAL FIRE:
The United States of America has withdrawn from an international agreement that gives detained foreign nationals the right to seek assistance and talk to their consular officers.

Corby lawyer pleads for Australian help
Schapelle Corby, 27, is accused of carrying over four kilograms of marijuana into Bali and could be sentenced to death if she is found guilty.

OHIO: Appeals court tosses death sentence for U.S.-British citizen
In Cincinnati, a federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out the conviction and death sentence of a man with dual U.S.-British citizenship who was convicted of killing a 2-year-old girl by starting a fire in his ex-girlfriend's apartment.

THE INNOCENT SCOT ON DEATH ROW IS ALMOST FREE
If you haven't heard about it yet, you will. There's a celebration in the air: Kenny is an innocent man living on death row in an Ohio prison and the authorities may finally acknowledge what we've known all along.

EXPENSES FOR STATE-ASSISTED SUICIDE EXCEEDS $33,000.00
To prepare for Connecticut's first state-sanctioned killing in 45 years, the state Department of Corrections has spent more than US$33,000 on such items as training personnel, drugs (poison), intravenous catheters and tubing, portable restrooms, mobile offices, lighting and curtains for the witness observation room.

Child Offenders on Death Row
Recent Australian studies of alcohol and cannabis use show that girls are increasingly inclined to behave boldly. But boys out number the girls, two to one; and three to one in the juvenile justice system, mortality figures, speeding infringements and car crash statistics.

US death row numbers don't change policy?
The number of prisoners on death row in the United States appears to be falling, mostly credited to a single Governor who commuted the sentences of all the death row prisoners in his state.

Despite Drop in Crime, an Increase in Inmates
US: The number of inmates in state and federal prisons rose 2.1 percent last year, even as violent crime and property crime fell, according to a study by the Justice Department released yesterday.

How Denying the Vote to Ex-Offenders Undermines Democracy
For starters, hundreds of thousands of people who are still eligible to vote will not do so this year because they will be locked up in local jails, awaiting processing or trials for minor offenses.

DNA Evidence of Bipartisanship
Last week the U.S. Congress passed the Justice for All Act, which includes provisions of the Innocence Protection Act. As of this posting, the legislation has not yet been signed by President Bush. Attached is an analysis of the legislation prepared by the Justice Project.

Our Two Priority Bills sent to White House
US: The 8th National CURE Convention last June lobbied on Capitol Hill the Innocence Protection Act in the Senate and the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004 in the House. On Sunday, October 10th, Congress passed both bills and sent them to the President to be signed.

THE LAW IS AN ASS:
US: A Californian man who beheaded a german shepherd dog he had named after his girlfriend, has been sentenced to 25 years to life under California's three-strikes law.

SAVE THE LIFE OF NGUYEN TUONG VAN:A PLEA TO SINGAPORE PRESIDENT On behalf of the Australian Coalition Against Death Penalty (ACADP) and in the spirit of respect for human life, I make a heartfelt plea for clemency, compassion and mercy, to spare and save the young life of Nguyen Tuong Van, currently under sentence of death at Changi Prison in Singapore. Nguyen Tuong Van, is a 23-year-old Australian man of Vietnamese origin. Nguyen was arrested at Changi Airport in December 2002, whilst in transit from Cambodia to Australia. He was later charged and convicted of drug-trafficking. In March 2004 he was sentenced to death for his crime.

EXTRADITION ACT FLUSHED DOWN THE TOILET
A long-standing convention not to extradite people out of Australia if they face the death penalty has been abandoned.

BIRTHDAY PROTEST BACKS INNOCENT MAN ON DEATH ROW:
Kids from 3 to 83 years old beat candy labeled "Justice" out of a big Texas-shaped piqata on Aug. 1 as dozens gathered in the Houston City Hall Park to celebrate the 30th birthday of Nanon Williams, an innocent person on Texas death row.

THE LAND OF BIBLES, GUNS, PATRIOTS AND THE 'WORLD ROLE MODEL' FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: The state of Alabama, USA, executed James Barney Hubbard. So what? ... you might say ... America executes prisoners almost every week!

Appealing a Death Sentence Based on Future Danger USA-HOUSTON, June 9 - Texas juries in capital cases must make a prediction. They may impose a death sentence only if they find that the defendant will probably commit more violent acts.

Clive Stafford-Smith: The Death Penalty
"In 1993, a federal judge ruled that, as the U.S. constitution has no ruling against killing the innocent, then it doesn't matter whether you are innocent or not, when you are executed. It's profoundly stupid - the constitution doesn't say the sun must set in the west, but it does.

Forensics? In proposing a new death penalty for Massachusetts last month, Governor Mitt Romney offered firm assurance that no innocent people would be executed: Convictions, he said, will be based on science.

Silencing the Cells: Mass Incarceration and Legal Repression in U.S. Prisons People without a voice are not people in any meaningful sense of the word. Silenced people cannot express their ideas; they can neither consent nor protest. They are reduced to being pawns in the schemes of the powerful, mendicants who must accept whatever is imposed upon them. In order to keep people in a state of subjugation, silencing their voices is essential. Nowhere is this clearer than in U.S. prisons.

U.N. Group Seeks End To Executions The United States, Japan, China, India and Muslim nations including Saudi Arabia opposed the resolution. Burkina Faso, Cuba, Guatemala, South Korea and Sri Lanka abstained.

US: Execution Dear Friends, this is so sad especially for our dear friend, San Nguyen. San who lives in Oklahoma worked very hard with the rest of the Vietnamese community to stop Mr. Le's execution. You may remember San from being at CURE's First International Conference in New York City in 2001. San also plans to be at the 8th National Convention this June in Washington. Charlie

Please contact the Governor The Vietnamese-American Community, the ACLU, and many others want the March 30 execution of Huang Thanh Le commuted.

Cherie Blair attacks US over death penalty in Catholic paper Cherie Blair has renewed her attack on America's use of the death penalty. In a book review in the Catholic journal The Tablet, under her maiden name Cherie Booth, she says: "Capital cases are uniquely prone to error and thus call into question whether we can ever be really sure of obtaining the just result.

Death penalty: a lawyer sees the light The observation "Americans are from Mars and Europeans are from Venus" is illustrated by the two nations' differing reactions to the use of the death penalty as a legitimate punishment for murder.

OHIO: Judges join dissent on execution delay In Columbus, 5 federal appeals court judges say a convicted killer's request to delay his execution was illegally denied because 2 senior judges participated in the vote.

Stephen Romei: Death knell sounds for US capital law GEORGE Ryan gets my vote as Australian of the Year, even though he's the outgoing governor of the US state of Illinois. There's just no one I admire more right now, not even Greg's Kables Community News Newtwork..

Mexico Awaits Hague Ruling on Citizens on U.S. Death Row Sbaldo Torres, a convicted murderer on death row in Oklahoma, should have been dead by now, his appeals exhausted, his time up.

Jury Passes On Business Of Killing US: This drives the death penalty crowd in the legislature nuts. Yet another jury - another 12 men and women, tried and true, who had all attested to their belief in the death penalty - has refused to join in the killing business.

Ultimate Punishment Scott Turow has long juggled two careers‹that of a novelist and that of a lawyer. He wrote much of his first and best known legal thriller, Presumed Innocent, on the commuter train to and from work during the eight years he spent as an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago, and he has churned out another blockbuster every third year since joining the firm of Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal in 1986.

A Question of Innocence Rubin Carter: Day after day, week after week, I would sit in that filthy cell, seething. I was furious at everyone. At the two state witnesses who lied, at the police who put them up to it, at the prosecutor who sanctioned it, at the judge who allowed it, at the jury who accepted it, and at my own lawyer, for not being able to defeat it.

Are you sane enough to be executed?
New York: The US Supreme Court has let stand a ruling by a federal appeals court in February that officials in the state of Arkansas had the right to force a convicted murderer to take drug treatment to make him sane enough to be executed.

Amnesty steps up campaign to abolish death penalty Human rights watchdog Amnesty International is urging people around the world to pressure countries to abolish the death penalty.

'LAND OF THE FREE' SET TO EXECUTE TWO PRISONERS BY FIRING SQUAD: Wanted: Willing executioners for two convicted murderers. Must be psychologically sound and familiar with .30-calibre rifles. No victims' relatives need apply.

TEXAS EXECUTES 300th PRISONER Keith Clay was executed tonight, becoming the 300th prisoner in Texas to die by lethal injection since the rogue state resumed the death penalty 20 years ago.

AUSTRALIAN COALITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY " ... Our nation was built on a promise of life and liberty for all citizens. Guided by a deep respect for human dignity, our Founding Fathers worked to secure these rights for future generations, and today we continue to seek to fulfil their promise in our laws and our society.

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Please note the following article carefully.....it shows clearly the hateful, uncaring and anti-human rights attitude as reflected by the Governor of Texas (and most other elected Texas officials).

Bush rules out death sentence review US President George W Bush says has dismissed any chance of a review of America's system of capital punishment.

Amnesty urges Bush to shut death row Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged US President George W. Bush to take a "moral stand" and abolish the death penalty after the Illinois Governor dramatically emptied that state's death row.

USA - A NATION IN TURMOIL: As the year 2002 draws to a close, little if anything, has changed in the United States in regards to state-sanctioned killing. Various campaigns, calls for clemency, petitions, and international condemnation, have failed to humanize U.S. politicians.

Here come de Judge - Time to Leave [266]
There have always been examples of rulings and interpretations that have supported the saying "The law is an ass". This is increasingly the case, because even the best intentioned judges are now facing an avalanche of new technologies and social change. But, it is no good making excuses for the judiciary and continuing to accept their strange interpretations. We must recognise that not only judges but the whole legal system will struggle more and more. In the end the whole system will become a farce. This is the way empires end.