The " Humanity " Factor !

We are well aware that the prisons in some overseas countries are described as " Hell Holes "  from which few long term prisoners emerge alive. We like to think that there is at least some degree of " rehabilitation " in the form of incarceration practised here.  Prison is supposed to improve educational standards and train people with some sort of useful skills for when they are released into society.

Justice Peter Hamill has been considering his options in deciding the sentence to impose on three of the notorious members of the " Brothers for Life "  crime syndicate.  Two older members have been convicted of a string of violent crimes which include the murder of a debt collector and the manslaughter of another man.  The prosecution is calling for both to serve a life sentence.

Justice Hamill is musing the fate of the youngest of the three, aged just twenty-five.  He has been convicted of lesser crimes and the prosecution is calling for a " substantial prison term " to be imposed.  How that term will be served is the issue troubling the judge.

During sentencing submission this younger man described the conditions under which he had been held on remand at the Silverwater Correctional Centre.  He claimed he spent three and a half years waiting for his case to come before a court and during that time he was mostly kept in his cell twenty-four hours a day because there were other Brothers for Life members within the prison population and it was deemed unsafe for him to mix in the general population, use the library or educational facilities or gain paid employment within the correctional centre.

For the past two years he had been in segregation, he said. His cell had a two metre by two metre " yard "  which consisted of a concrete floor and concrete walls with bars.  It was not large enough to run and he could only take three paces before meeting an obstacle.  He was usually handcuffed and locked in a " glass and metal " cage when he met his lawyers.

It was obvious that the judge was wondering under what conditions whatever sentence he imposed would be served and whether similar conditions to those that applied in remand would apply ?   It would be up to the prison authorities to determine the safety of prisoners under their control and if there was a continuing vendetta against former members of  the Brothers for life fraternity then precautions would need to be taken.

That is one of the problems of our justice system.  Each segment of the process is a separate function operating within its own rules and regulations.  Each makes its individual contribution, but without any real influence on the final outcome - which is usually determined by whatever set of circumstances applies at that time.

The police investigate a crime and catch an offender.  A prosecutor decides the charges and prepared the brief for a court.   The offender awaits an appropriate opening time in the court calendar - and an impartial judge is appointed.   Lawyers for the prosecution and the defence use their skills to influence the outcome - and if guilt is established - a sentence is decided.   How that sentence is served is entirely in the hands of the prison authorities.

What is unhelpful is the attitude of the public - and that depends on the crime committed.  If it was of a nature that caused public outrage there are calls for a severe sentence and the hope that the conditions imposed are the harshest.   The " Lock them up and throw away the key " mentality emerges.

If a harrowing and unjust tale of institutional cruelty emerges that same vindictive mob will turn on the entire justice system and seek to tear it apart.  No wonder judges weigh up the " humanity factor " when trying to balance the punishment against the crime !