THE PENAL SYSTEM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 117, 19 May 1936, Page 6

THE PENAL SYSTEM.

SUGGESTED ALTERATION. (To the Edltor.l Among the various suggestions recently made to you 011 this topic, may I say a few words about the "indeterminate sentence"? Such a sentence has its points, though in England I understand that it never is really indeterminate. Is there not a maximum of ten years? Also it must be made a matter of special indictment, and I believe is never applied to any offender under 30 years of age, while in New Zealand I have known boys of 18 or so "declared," and without special indictment. But what I would urge is this (a suggestion already made, I see, by one experienced ex-official): Keep the indeterminate sentence (with proper safeguards, as in England), but let'the "indeterminate" part of it be served, not in prison, but on probation. The head sentence could then be subject to the old-time "remission" for good conduct within the walls; and the real acid test of "reform" (i.e., that of living a decent life out in the community) could then be properly applied, and examined by a board that would at least have something adequate to guide it. At present I heartily agree that it has not. Such a "reformed" procedure would also have the merit of economy. Akaroa. B. E. BAUGHAN.

After reading in the daily paper Mr. Mason's very conservative ideas on prison administration and the H.C. Act, it was refreshing to read the opinion of a conservative judge, Lord Buckmaster, who really does know law, past and present, and has far more humane opinions. "To me the only hope of the, human race lies in increasing the feeling of sanctity of human life. Without this realisation we shall never get rid of slums, poverty or crime." Magna Charta being the foundation of British law and justice, it lays stress on two points in legal terms: (1) That a man shall not be punished twice for the same offence. (2) That he shall be judged by his peers. This is the wording, cap. xxix. of the Magna Charta: "No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or be disseised of his freehold' or liberties, or free customs, or be outlawed, exiled or otherwise destroyed; nor will we pass upon him or condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. We will sell to 110 man, and we will not defer to any man either justice or right." In England the Prevention of Crimes Act provides that if the court is of opinion that a prisoner by reason of his criminal habits and mode of life should be detained for a lengthened period, then the person found guilty must prove to the satisfaction of a jury that he has not persistently led a criminal life since the age of sixteen. Again, there is a time limit, not after the method of the Prisons Board Kathleen Mavoureen —it may be for a year or it may be for ever. A man who contracted T.B. in Mount Eden was sent to hospital ah H.C. A letter was sent asking Mr. Mason to lift the stigma of H.C'. from this dying man. It was refused. Is there sense or justice in this? The Prisons Commissioner of England reported that as a result of prison reforms, 011 release prisoners return to the world less embittered and less at war with the world, and discipline in prison has improved. We trust that our Prime Minister will himself see to the matter. The Minister of Justice may uphold his system with legal phraseology, but what is wanted is a thorough knowledge of prison life and its effect on the man and the community. Justice and English liberty rights must not be forgotten, but, above .all, a sympathetic understanding of men and their weaknesses. MAGNA CHARTA.