Dairy owners are calling on the Coalition government to toughen its Three Strikes 2.0, that has been so watered down, it risks being ‘no strikes.’
“In Opposition, the new government talked a great game so we’re guttered to see Three Strikes 2.0 turn into no strikes,” says Sunny Kaushal, chair of the Dairy and Business Owners Group Incorporated.
“All we see is something that sounds good but will give criminals a ‘get out of jail free card.’
“That’s the effect of limiting a ‘strike’ only to ‘sentences’ above 24-months and the government doesn’t seem to grasp there are two sentences. There’s a starting point sentence but then there’s the end point after the judge considers “discounts.”
“So, what sentence does the government actually mean?
“For good measure, the government wants judges to have discretion where a strike is “manifestly unjust.” The chances of getting a strike go way down and if one is landed, it might be deemed “manifestly unjust.” Three strikes become no strikes.
“We’ll tell you what is ‘manifestly unjust.’ That’s 298 thefts and 17 burglaries every day last year in a record year for retail crime. Something that officials, judges and sadly now Ministers, don’t want to face up to.
“Here’s just two examples of what we mean. In February, a person was finally sent to prison but only after 105 convictions over many years including “intensive supervision” for burglary. They got 14-months.
“Late last year, a criminal appealed their sentence after burgling a Hamilton vape store, who when arrested, added escaping custody, breaching bail, breaching community work and assaulting Police. The final sentence for all of that? 17-months.
“This 24-month rule is a joke. We are talking about the worst crimes and worst criminals for people who aren’t scouts. Especially when ‘manifestly unjust’ provides a get out of jail card.
“Ministers need to get out of the Beehive and sit in on District Court cases to see how sentences get whittled down to wet bus tickets. As many of our people live where they work, we take the need for deterrence seriously. So should the Government,” Mr Kaushal said.
I agree that the law, as proposed, is so weak that it will be ineffectual.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
2 comments:
the path towards 'vigilante justice' rarely has a u-turn :(
sadly, i think we are just waiting for some shop owner to 'go postal' before the whole justice system is shaken to its core.
So it seems National can talk a big game, but go weak at the knees when it comes to delivering on expectations.
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