If we are going to be serious about deterring crime -- particularly murders -- then we can't get soft on punishment... Already this timidity in enforcing the law has broken down law and order on every level in The Bahamas

Considering crime and punishment

tribune242 editorial


SPEAKING in the House of Assembly last week Cat Island MP Philip "Brave" Davis criticised Government's proposed crime Bills as falling "short" of what is needed to eliminate violent crime.

He wondered if any thought had been given to the rate of recidivism and what would be the average length of time to rehabilitate an offender when defining life imprisonment.

"There is jurisprudence," he said, "to suggest natural life without an opportunity to review with a view of release is cruel and unusual punishment."

One never hears of the "cruel and unusual punishment" suffered by a victim's family -- a victim who has not had a second chance at life. And a family that has lost their main breadwinner.

With capital punishment virtually removed from the scene, there has to be a penalty, not only to punish, but to deter. True, there are degrees of murder -- the planned, vicious murders spawned from a psychotic brain, and the impulsive anger, where death was not intended, but was the result. There might be some hope of rehabilitating the latter, but none for the former.

The society's complaint today is that the laws are too soft, so soft that the criminal is making a fool of our judicial system. It is felt that with automatic hanging removed, the criminal is willing to play Russian roulette with his life, knowing that he can commit his crime and in all probability avoid the hangman's noose. It might give him second thoughts if he had to contemplate a lifetime in prison - when he and the undertaker leave together.

However, if he knows that he can again trick his way out by good behaviour, where is the deterrent to his crime?

A police officer told us that what many of them do is "get religion" while in prison to impress their jailers. Some, released for good behaviour before completing their sentence, turn their collars backwards and quietly continue their misdeeds, while others shed their religion and openly revert to type.

If we are going to be serious about deterring crime -- particularly murders -- then we can't get soft on punishment. Already this timidity in enforcing the law has broken down law and order on every level in this country.

Mr Davis said that legislators have to think of the cost of housing a convict for the rest of his natural life -- particularly if the offender has youth on his side. They also have to think of the increased burden on taxpayers.

Mr Davis told House members that it costs $14,000 a year to house a prisoner. He said that if a person were sentenced to life at the age of 30 - life expectancy for the average Bahamian male being 70 years - the state would have to support him for at least 40 years.

"Do the math," he told legislators, "there are at least 400 persons to be tried -- millions of dollars it will be costing taxpayers!"

These convicts become burdens only if the government lacks the imagination to put them to good use and make them pay their way by their daily labour.

Already in this column we have suggested setting aside a large acreage of Crown land for cultivation. These prisoners -- composed of lifers and those with shorter sentences -- could feed the nation.

Of course, for those with a life sentence this would be a life time job. At least they can turn a misspent life into a useful one and remember -- if the laws had not been changed -- they could have been hanged, buried and forgotten about, instead of breathing God's fresh air, and growing a field of tomatoes.

This production could be a tremendous savings to government by reducing the cost of imports. If done on a large enough scale and managed like a business, it could even increase our foreign reserves through exports.

In the woodwork department, men with this ability could be taught to turn out first class cabinetry that could be sold from various furniture stores. Again if it were handled as a proper business, the prison could open its own furniture store and attract a market. They could even go into the business of making toys for children.

With a little imagination, these men need not become as heavy a burden as some predict. What must be remembered is that outside of prison walls they will be a constant menace.

Society has to decide whether they prefer to pay for their upkeep knowing that they can have a good night's sleep in the safety of their homes, or save the expense and sleep with one eye open, and an ear cocked listening for the thief at the window.

However, these prisoners could possibly earn enough that restitution also could be made to some of the victims of their evil deeds.

Who knows but that it might encourage pride in some of these men in the knowledge that in the end their lives were not a complete waste.

But with the criminal playing hardball with society, society cannot now go soft on punishment.

October 17, 2011

tribune242 editorial

Caribbean Blog International

...we need to restore the quick connection between crime and punishment in The Bahamas... And we need to ensure that the people who lead the critical divisions of the police force and the AG’s Office related to investigating and prosecuting serious crimes are up to the task

The prime minister’s national crime address

thenassauguardian editorial

So much has been said in recent years about crime in The Bahamas. There have been four murder records in five years.  Over that same five-year period more that 13,000 cases of housebreaking have been reported.  Most of those homes were broken into in New Providence.

Bahamians are fearful.  Bahamians are not sure that their law enforcement agencies and politicians are up to the task to fix the problem.

Opposition leader Perry Christie and his party seem to understand that crime is likely the most significant issue on the minds of most Bahamians.  Christie, who is not known for leading the way, got out ahead of Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham in August.  He made a national address on crime and offered solutions on behalf of his party.

Some of the ideas Christie presented had promise; others did not.  However, in speaking to the country formally on the issue as the opposition leader and a former prime minister, Christie indicated that crime was an issue that must now be addressed and debated at the leadership level.

Ingraham said Sunday he would make a national address on crime Monday coming.  His address will come almost six months after he promised during the national address on public infrastructure to speak about the growing crime problem in The Bahamas.

Ingraham made the crime address pledge at Lynden Pindling International Airport as he arrived back in The Bahamas from an official visit to Washington, D.C.  He made the pledge after reporters asked him crime related questions.  It is unclear if Ingraham had previously decided to make the national address or if he made the pledge in an effort to end the questioning.

Nonetheless, the address is needed and it will be interesting to hear what the prime minister has to say.

Ingraham has a fine line to negotiate.  He will likely mention the millions of dollars his government has provided to the various agencies of the criminal justice system.  He will likely also bring up the refurbishment of the courts.

Ingraham and his government have also gone further.  Since coming to office in 2007 the chief justice has been changed, there have been three commissioners of police, two directors of public prosecution and at least five commanders at the Central Detective Unit.

His government has tried and it continues to try.  But, as the numbers show, the crime problem is worsening.

What the PM needs to address is the competency of the leadership of his law enforcement agencies and whether or not certain agencies are adequately staffed with competent people.

Police investigate serious crime and lawyers from the Office of the Attorney General prosecute the cases.  If the cases are poor and the prosecutors are less than capable, and there are too few of them, then few people will go to jail for the crimes they commit.

And, if the AG’s Office cannot bring forward cases fast enough, or if it does not want to because the cases were poorly prepared by police, then judges will grant bail to accused persons who would then be free to offend again.

There is too much talk now about everybody doing a good job.  In this time of civility we say the commissioner of police and his officers are doing a good job; we say the National Security Ministry is doing a good job; we say prosecutors are doing their best.  If police and prosecutors are doing their best, and the crime situation in The Bahamas is worsening, then those officers and prosecutors are not up to the task to help reverse the trend.

As we mentioned in a previous editorial, leadership is needed on the crime issue.

The prime minister must pledge bold action and show passion when he addresses his people.  The money spent so far has not yet led to any meaningful results.  We need to know what is next.

Simply put, we need to restore the quick connection between crime and punishment.  And we need to ensure that the people who lead the critical divisions of the police force and the AG’s Office related to investigating and prosecuting serious crimes are up to the task.

If they are not, something else should be found for them to do.

Sep 28, 2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

Craig Butler - independent candidate for Kennedy says: Capital punishment will not have any significant impact on crime... resume corporal punishment as a deterrent for violent crime

Capital punishment 'will not impact crime'

tribune242



CAPITAL punishment will not have any significant impact on crime, said independent candidate for Kennedy Craig Butler.

Instead, the former Progressive Liberal Party member has called for the resumption of corporal punishment as a deterrent for violent crime.

"There have been repeated calls for capital punishment to be resumed as it is felt by many that this would have the deterrent effect," said Mr Butler.

"Although the ability to effect such a sentence is on our books, in reality, given the constraints that have been imposed by the Privy Council through its interpretation of our constitution, the likelihood of hanging a convicted person is virtually nil.

"If it is the desire of the Bahamian people to resume this practice, a referendum must be held so that the necessary changes to our constitution can be made, that would allow a convicted person the right to pursue any and all appeals that they may desire and at the end of that process despite the passage of a long period of time for the State to mete out its punishment."

Still he called for a public referendum to get public consensus on the controversial issue.

"In the circumstances, I call upon the Prime Minister to hold the national referendum before the next general election and allow the voices of the people to be heard. To me it seems as though it would be impossible for any political institution to oppose such a move for fear of being branded not serious about dealing with the issue of crime."

Mr Butler said he feels corporal punishment is the way forward.

"Corporal punishment brings real results. The reinstitution of the use of 'the rod' and 'the cat' will be something that will in my estimation cause one to stop and think. Amnesty International and all the other international groups I am sure will be berating us as a barbaric society.

"If the more serious crimes came with these as a mandatory part of the sentence I am convinced that many of those who commit crimes will think long and hard before doing so."

September 05, 2011

tribune242

Caribbean Blog International

Crime, punishment, lost faith in the judicial system and vigilante justice

What should be the punishment for crime?

tribune242



A FATHER, grieving over his dead daughter, yesterday condemned this country's highest court for restoring hope of a full life to the man who had brutally murdered her nine years earlier.

On Wednesday London's Privy Council removed the noose that had threatened the neck of Maxo Tido. Instead it sent him back to the Bahamas' Court of Appeal to fix an "appropriate sentence" for a murder they recognised as "appalling," but "not one which warrants the most condign punishment of death."

Tido was the first condemned man sentenced to be hanged by a judge after the Privy Council ruled that no longer could a jury's murder conviction result in an automatic death sentence. Rather a judge now had to consider the merits of each case and decide whether the evidence was such as to warrant death by hanging.

Supreme Court Justice Anita Allen ruled that the brutality of the 16-year-old girl's death merited no mercy for her killer-- he was to hang by the neck until dead. The Advisory Committee of the Prerogative of Mercy agreed, but stayed his execution until he could appeal to the Bahamas's highest court -- the Privy Council.

The results of this decision means a life sentence for Tido. However, it is now up to our legislators to redefine the meaning of "life" in cases such as this. In future "life" should no longer mean 25 years with good behaviour, but full life, with the prisoner leaving his cell only when the undertaker arrives to take him to the graveyard.

The dead girl's father warned that the Privy Council's decision could lead to vigilante justice if people continue to lose faith in the judicial system.

Unfortunately that faith has already been lost and, at least among the criminals, vigilante justice is on the rise.

National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest attributes 44 per cent of this year's murders to drugs. As the drug dealers squabble among themselves and settle their own scores with the gun, they are assisting the judicial system in clearing cases from the court's calendar.

For example, about two weeks ago a man accused of murder was released on bail by a judge. His trial was still pending. A week later he was dead -- shot by another who is "well known to the police," also presumably out on bail.

A few weeks ago a young man was shot in his hand in Fox Hill. If his tangled web is traced back a couple of years, two feuding factions can be found to be the root cause. They will probably gun it out until no man is left standing on either side. One side taking retaliatory measures against the other has resulted so far in at least three violent deaths in this case. This today is what is happening on our streets -- vigilante justice is alive and well.

A police officer commented a few days ago that last weekend was a quiet one on the crime front. He attributed it to the police's new strike force, which had rounded up at least 100 persons for various offences before the holiday weekend.

Opposition politicians like to accuse government for not taking crime seriously. This is nonsense. The government is doing its best, the police are doing their best, the community, where the problem lies, is yet to step up to the plate.

Opposition politicians claim they have the answer to reduce crime. If they have a secret weapon, they are guarding it closely. As far as the PLP are concerned Urban Renewal is the balm that will heal all. It had no healing charm when the PLP were in power, it would be interesting to know what makes the PLP think that it will be any different if they were returned as the government. They are trying to make the public believe that the Ingraham government killed Urban Renewal when it came to power. A redesigned urban renewal programme is still in place, however, it is no longer PLP-style.

The truth is no one --certainly no political party -- has the answer to how to reduce crime. The will of an angered people resolved to restore morality to their communities is the only power that can turn the tide. Until that day comes, the criminals will call the shots.

There are those who maintain that the death penalty is the most effective deterrent to crime. Others say it is life imprisonment. No one knows the answer. Proof hangs in the balance on either side of this complex question. When human nature is involved there is no answer that fits all.

The answer is not to rid ourselves of the Privy Council -- it is too important to this nation in many other ways. However, it is now up to Bahamians to make certain that when persons are convicted of such heinous crimes, all hope of returning to society is removed forever. This is probably the cruelest of all punishments.

June 17, 2011

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