Columns

Three Strikes.New Zealand took a new direction on May 25. I have to admit that I have less than no respect for the ACT Party and its policies. But, along with MPs from all parties, I do not dispute the intentions of David Garrett; I just want to respectfully disagree with his legislation.

I will save the ad hominems and scatology for another, less serious occasion. While there is probably a reason for every letter of this paragraph for why this bill potentially and definitely is flawed, I am just going to make one point.
Justice has to be one of the most imperfect, messy, and unsatisfying affairs that humans have the misfortune of dealing with. There is no way one could trivialise the immense burden of responsibility that falls on the shoulders of a judge. Nor could one trivialise the hatred and/or pain of the victim of a violent crime.
Politics is the negotiation between multiple agents. And there are not many things more important or telling about a society than the conditions under which it deprives its members of their freedom. The best guideline under which to operate is to take human rights as an absolute minimum. This advises us that all humans should receive punishment in proportion to the offense they commit.
Under the new law, a person on their third strike gets the same time for robbery (not aggravated) as a person who has a sexually exploitative relationship with a disabled person. Ten years, no parole, regardless of premeditation, cruelty, remorse, pleading guilty, or the wishes of the victim. Completely dissimilar crimes can receive the same sentence. In other words, the bill takes away judicial discretion. This is unfair to a judge who then has to impose an unjust sentence. Nor is violating the right to proportionate justice fair for the victim or perpetrator: “If someone wrongs me, I am entitled to have the wrong remedied, no more and no less.”*
Labour, Greens, and Progressives oppose the Bill, as do National Party coalition partners the Maori Party and United Future, and members of the following groups who made oral submissions in opposition to the bill: the New Zealand Law Society, the New Zealand Police Association, the Human Rights Foundation, the Human Rights Commission, the Council of Civil Liberties, the Salvation Army, the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services, and Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu. As do I.
 
*Some things cannot be put better than at norightturn.blogspot.com