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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

National Party Gulags


Prisoners to work for victim fund - National
More prisoners will have to work under a National government, and the money they earn will go towards a victims' fund. Those who refuse will lose their right to parole. National leader John Key announced plans to boost work and rehabilitation schemes yesterday, and confirmed it would allow the private sector to run prisons again. Mr Key said a National government would spend $7 million a year boosting the number of inmates in industry-based work from 2500-3500 by the end of 2011.
Mr Key said prisoners were usually paid between 20c and 60c an hour but were charged out at market labour rates.


So we enter the time of the corporate Gulag, Prisoners forced to work at what is effectively slave labour where smug National Party supporters get to race past motorways where chain gangs sing spirituals under a hot South Auckland sky, so hateful has our social policy become it has been warped into this abortion, exactly as it has been in America with the same vested interests of longer prison sentences and larger prison slave work force, Private prisons don’t give a toss about rehabilitation, they care only for longer sentences (meaning the prisoners stay longer, meaning they get more money to hold them) and while holding them they get to implement prison labour as a cheap workforce, they make money off the labour of prisoners – see how in that equation how the Private Prison doesn’t give a toss about rehabilitation and why only the state should be allowed to incarcerate you against your will and not a corporation?

12 Comments:

At 29/10/08 2:20 pm, Blogger Mike_NZ said...

I understand the issues you point out over the dangers of private prisons, but putting the proceeds of their work into a victims' fund would seem to mitigate some of the potential problems. I guess it depends how much of their market labour rates end up in that fund.
I see how owners of private prisons would like longer sentences, but how could they hold any power to achieve that? Judges and the legislator set sentences, not prisons. I guess there could be an issue with them withhold parole as much as possible, but surely that could be effectively regulated and monitored.
Personally I don't see too much of a problem with private prisons, as long as someone is closely watching them.

 
At 29/10/08 3:05 pm, Blogger Bomber said...

I understand the issues you point out over the dangers of private prisons, but putting the proceeds of their work into a victims' fund would seem to mitigate some of the potential problems. I guess it depends how much of their market labour rates end up in that fund.
I agree, some type of reparation would be appriopriate but open ended slave labour to work tirelessly to pay over a space of years seems harsh in the extreme - surely that money could also build a nest egg so that prisoners when they leave have some actual money to start their life afresh, working 3 years to be exploited for growing weed seems unacceptable.

I see how owners of private prisons would like longer sentences, but how could they hold any power to achieve that?
In the US they suddenly become supporters of hard right victims support groups, imagine if you will Corporate Prissons started donating millions to the sensible sentencing club to advertise for longer and harsher sentences, they do it overseas why wouldn't we see that here?

I simply don't trust them Mike, they have perverted American justice the exact same way the military industrial complex perverts their foreign affairs, and any political party who willingly lets this into our system should not be allowed to reach office.

 
At 29/10/08 3:47 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

In the US they suddenly become supporters of hard right victims support groups, imagine if you will Corporate Prissons started donating millions to the sensible sentencing club to advertise for longer and harsher sentences, they do it overseas why wouldn't we see that here?

I simply don't trust them Mike, they have perverted American justice the exact same way the military industrial complex perverts their foreign affairs, and any political party who willingly lets this into our system should not be allowed to reach office.



This all seems very simple to fix:
The private prisons should have a recidivism clause - if a prisoner returns to jail within a certain period of leaving a private prison, then they are heftily fined.

This way the private prisons would do everything thing within their power to rehabilitate prisons by having a vested interest in the released prisoner NOT returning to jail.

If the private prisons were fined big time for every prisoner who re-offended, I think you would see the private prisons putting a lot of effort into making sure the prisoners had something set up on the out side - whether it be housing, training, employment etc.

As it stands right now, prisons have absolutely no interest in rehabilitating prisoners. If the private prison' interest is money, who cares, as long as they rehabilitate the ex criminals.

 
At 29/10/08 3:52 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thats the idea! Fine people heavily who have been out of the work force for a few years and cant get a job! thats the way national! Poor people-Fuck em! Just us rich people cant be anywhere near the prisons aye?

It like the part of the shawshank redemption with the corruption when the get the new slave labour force!

 
At 29/10/08 3:59 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The private companies can't even get their transport vans done right - why should we trust them with whole prisons?

 
At 29/10/08 4:04 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think they meant fine the prison, not the prisoner.

 
At 29/10/08 4:08 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thats the idea! Fine people heavily who have been out of the work force for a few years and cant get a job! thats the way national! Poor people-Fuck em! Just us rich people cant be anywhere near the prisons aye?

Jesus, what an idiot.

I think they meant fine the prison, not the prisoner.

Thank you, it is a sad day when people have to state the obvious for retards like anon 3:52 PM.
Just goes to show how willing and able they are to jump right off deep end when someone else suggests an idea that is outside their sphere of thinking.

 
At 29/10/08 4:55 pm, Blogger Mike_NZ said...

Fining private prisons for re-offenders sounds like a good idea to me. I don't think there is much of an incentive for prison staff at the moment to go out of their way to rehabilitate anyone, except maybe for the warm fuzzies.
I agree the people working while in prison deserve more than 20-60c an hour, and saving for their release would be great in terms of establishing a life. But you can imagine the public annoyance if they just spent it on drugs and smokes. Maybe they could be paid on release, but that would likely lead the the bender of all benders and a trip back to prison.

I see the risk of over funded lobby groups and cannot think of any adequate remedy. Perhaps it is a risk worth taking though if it leads to a more efficient prison system. I believe it must be possible to proceed down the privatization path without necessarily ending up with a mini America.

 
At 29/10/08 5:44 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Prisons in their current form don not appear to be working, just look at your little crim mate tim who appears after his incarceration to be utterly unrepentent.

Six month in solitary hanging with the roaches would have fixed that.

 
At 29/10/08 6:20 pm, Blogger Bomber said...

This all seems very simple to fix:
The private prisons should have a recidivism clause - if a prisoner returns to jail within a certain period of leaving a private prison, then they are heftily fined.


Here's the problem with that - how far along do you measure that? As we push for longer and longer sentences you get what a 7 year window to check recidivism? No Corporate Prison agrees to those conditions anyway, and as we become increasingly dependent on Private Prisons to house our increasing prisoner population they simply start dictating the terms because the Government never wants to pick up the full cost of housing those prisoners. This is the experience elsewhere and I can't see it being different here.

This way the private prisons would do everything thing within their power to rehabilitate prisons by having a vested interest in the released prisoner NOT returning to jail.
For the reasons I've made above I think your optimism is deeply misplaced.

If the private prisons were fined big time for every prisoner who re-offended, I think you would see the private prisons putting a lot of effort into making sure the prisoners had something set up on the out side - whether it be housing, training, employment etc.
Mate this just doesn't happen.

As it stands right now, prisons have absolutely no interest in rehabilitating prisoners. If the private prison' interest is money, who cares, as long as they rehabilitate the ex criminals.
You are wrong there, the cost to the Government should force them to invest in rehabilitation services rather than being too afraid to make that investment and look to abdicate that responsibility to the corporate world.

The private companies can't even get their transport vans done right - why should we trust them with whole prisons?
VERY good point!

 
At 31/10/08 1:43 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You show how little you Bomber - crimals actually enjoy working, once you drag them out that is.

Go work work there rather than talk about things you know nothing about - you might get a few surprises.

 
At 31/10/08 1:45 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rehab - Betty Ford and all that, now how many times do they go, repeat customer is the key to all business.

 

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