Prisoner education learning places to nearly double – but is it fair? asks McVicar

“Most young people have a significant student loan to repay once they get a job and I certainly hope the prisoners are required to pay back the cost of their education as well – but I seriously doubt it. It just wouldn’t be politically correct to require criminals to repay their debt to society.” McVicar

The Sensible Sentencing Trust says while it supports all efforts to reduce crime and victimisation they are asking who is picking up the cost and more importantly is it fair.

Garth McVicar who founded the justice reform and victim advocacy organisation in 2001 said, “SST had succeeded beyond my wildest dreams and shocked this country out of its apathy but it seems this scheme will once again penalise good hard working families.”

“The fact New Zealand has such a large number of uneducated prisoners is directly attributable to the liberal lunacy movement that has dumbed society down in a catastrophic failed social experiment.”

“The liberal lunatics have annihilated the A B C D [Accountability, Boundaries, Consequences and Discipline] all essential ingredients to create an educated, well-balanced, low crime rate society.”

“The direct result of this nonsense has created a cesspool of unmotivated, uneducated lazy dropouts who see crime as an easier alternative than going to work, now once again it looks like the tax-payer has to pick up the tab.”

McVicar said educating prisoners is all well and good but it seemed unfair to the majority of young people who had to take out a student loan to get a good education.

“Most young people have a significant student loan to repay once they get a job and I certainly hope the prisoners are required to pay back the cost of their education as well – but I seriously doubt it. It just wouldn’t be politically correct to require criminals to repay their debt to society.”

“The notorious Phillip Smith had gained a good education in prison with numerous degrees but he simply used his learning to out-fox and make a mockery of the system that had treated him so kindly.”

“We have a saying on the farm that ‘you can offer a horse water but you can’t make it drink’; I think Corrections will find they can offer criminals an education but they can’t make them work. That will be entirely up to the individual offender but current legislation fails to recognise this.”

“If the Minister is really serious about making communities safer I suggest he introduces legislation that acknowledges some offenders are so bad, so evil, that even an education won’t make an iota of difference.”

McVicar said that Phillip Smith falls into this category but existing legislation means he will ultimately be released into an unsuspecting and vulnerable community and create more victims.

ENDS

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