Home Detention: Prison For Partners

The Parole Board's permission for wife beaters to serve their time at home defies belief, and Justice Minister Phil Goff should explain immediately just how the Board satisfies itself that the wife is not at risk, ACT New Zealand Justice Spokesman Stephen Franks said today.

"For example, how can Board-members tell whether a woman who supports the application is not acting out of terror - knowing that, if she is seen as the obstacle, there will be worse to come in the future?" Mr Franks said.

"Who's getting the punishment? The most precious time for many beaten women is while their abuser is at work, or out of the house for other reasons. If Home Detention means what it says, they will be condemned to spend even more time in the menacing presence than before the offence.

"This policy is an example of the mockery that Home Detention makes of punishment. The politically correct politicians have taken the sentencing power from judges, turned prison sentences into excursions of uncertain length, and told criminals that the law worries more about them than their victims," Mr Franks said.

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