Prison Reform (Press, 21 November 1968)
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Summary: Prison Reform (Press, 21 November 1968)
On 20 November 1968, the Parliamentary Petitions Committee in Wellington recommended that the New Zealand Government consider a petition from the New Zealand Howard League aimed at reforming the penal system. This petition was presented to Parliament in July of the same year and outlined several proposals for changes within the correctional framework. Notably, one of the suggestions was to decriminalise homosexual acts between consenting male adults, although the committee's recommendation did not specifically address this matter. Among the reform proposals suggested by the Howard League, several key initiatives were highlighted. These included the establishment of unwalled prisons for the majority of inmates, with the exception of those who required confinement. The petition also called for research into the underlying causes of crime in an effort to develop preventative measures, along with strategies to decrease the number of first offenders entering the prison system. Another significant proposal was the introduction of home leave for prisoners, with an initial focus on allowing one month of leave for all inmates, contingent upon public safety. Additionally, the league proposed that a welfare worker and psychiatrist be appointed to the judiciary to provide advisory support during sentencing. Finally, they advocated for an expansion of the powers of parole boards, proposing that they should be able to remit two-thirds of a sentence, as opposed to the current maximum of one-quarter. In related news, a ceremony was scheduled for 10 December 1968 to mark the completion of the new maximum security prison located at Paremoremo, Auckland.
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