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
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
Showing posts with label law and order Bahamas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label law and order Bahamas. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Bahamian Courts need better administration
Courts need better administration
tribune242 editorial:
A RETIRED police officer is concerned that no matter how many judges are brought in to strengthen the Bench, nor how many court buildings are constructed or renovated in which more cases can be heard, nothing is going to reduce the court's logjam until the judicial system is better administered.
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham himself recognises this. In his budget address to the House in which he outlined government's proposals to improve the system, he acknowledged that "notwithstanding efforts made in the past we have not been nearly as effective as The Bahamas deserves in the administration of the judicial and legal system."
A new director of public prosecutions is arriving in August to take up the post with two persons already in the Attorney General's office elevated to the positions of deputy prosecutors. Mr Ingraham said that there has been "a serious problem with the management of criminal cases -- a problem of untold magnitude."
That problem is reflected in the community causing Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade to acknowledge that on the crime scene today most victims and those committing murders have previously been arrested and charged in connection with other serious crimes. Often, said the Commissioner, they have been arraigned in a Magistrate's court on charges of murder, or illegal firearms, drug possession, armed robbery or other violent crimes and released on bail.
Once they have been freed they return to their communities and continue committing crimes, allowing violence to permeate the neighbourhoods, he said. In other words the revolving door syndrome has suffocated our courts, because cases are not being dealt with efficiently. The root cause? Adjournments.
Mr Paul Thompson, retired deputy commissioner of police, said that recently a person accused of a minor offence wanted to visit Miami, but a court date was interfering with his plans. His lawyer told him not to worry, to go ahead as he would arrange an adjournment.
"That," said Mr Thompson, "would have never happened under Magistrate Wilton Hercules. In the old days you had to appear in person before the magistrate and request an adjournment." Magistrate Hercules, feared by the criminal class, would have probably refused the request -- particularly if it was frivolous. He would have proceeded with the case. No one did foolishness in his court, and everything moved on time. But today there is adjournment after adjournment -- many stretching into years -- is the order of the day. No wonder the cases are stacking up and gathering dust and witnesses are either losing their memories or disappearing.
Another problem, said Mr Thompson, is that an accused person has a constitutional right to choose his own lawyer. Suppose, said Mr Thompson, you have a hundred accused asking for the same lawyer, then immediately cases start backing up until the overbooked lawyer is available to take each case in turn. This, said Mr Thompson, is a major problem that has to be solved if the court calendar is to move smoothly.
Mr Thompson referred to a case that was due in court on Wednesday for final judgment. The case involved the possession of 2,500 rounds of ammunition, hidden in baby clothing. It was discovered by Customs when it arrived by boat at Kelly's dock in early 2008. For two years there was adjournment after adjournment. On Wednesday -- which was supposed to be the final day -- the case was again adjourned, this time to September 16.
"Imagine," exclaimed Mr Thompson, "a simple case of possession that should have taken the court an half hour to an hour has now taken two years and is not yet finished!"
Another case in which he was interested was also set down for Wednesday. It was a case of the arrest of a sole occupant of a car that contained several guns -- Ruger, Remington and Maverick - and several rounds of ammunition. That arrest was made on October 23, 2006 -- nearly four years ago. It was set down for hearing on the prosecutor's list for this Wednesday. However, when Mr Thompson arrived at court on Wednesday, he was told that it was not on the prosecutor's list for that day or any other day for that matter. So what has happened? Is it just going to slide over the edge and get lost?
Mr Thompson named many other simple cases that should have occupied very little time on the calendar, yet they have been dragged over the years. While he was at the court on Wednesday a case for firearm possession came up. "It was a simple possession case," said Mr Thompson, "where only three police witness were needed -- the two officers to tell the magistrate what they found and a third officer from the Armoury to testify that the firearm being held was listed under the Firearms Act. Yet this case was adjourned to March next year."
On Monday we shall tell how this problem was nipped in the bud in 1980 when no-show witnesses -- particularly police officers -- never turned up to give evidence.
When Pericles Maillis acted for a time as magistrate he issued a warrant for the immediate arrest of a police constable who had not shown up to give his testimony. The constable, brought to court under arrest, was made to wait in the prisoner's dock until the case was called. He complained of being "embarrassed."
If this non-appearance continues, said Mr Maillis at the time, there "is going to be a breakdown in law and order in the Bahamas."
And that is exactly what has happened -- it continued and it broke down. Until the individual courts are better managed, cases will continue to take up unnecessary space.
July 02, 2010
tribune242 editorial
tribune242 editorial:
A RETIRED police officer is concerned that no matter how many judges are brought in to strengthen the Bench, nor how many court buildings are constructed or renovated in which more cases can be heard, nothing is going to reduce the court's logjam until the judicial system is better administered.
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham himself recognises this. In his budget address to the House in which he outlined government's proposals to improve the system, he acknowledged that "notwithstanding efforts made in the past we have not been nearly as effective as The Bahamas deserves in the administration of the judicial and legal system."
A new director of public prosecutions is arriving in August to take up the post with two persons already in the Attorney General's office elevated to the positions of deputy prosecutors. Mr Ingraham said that there has been "a serious problem with the management of criminal cases -- a problem of untold magnitude."
That problem is reflected in the community causing Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade to acknowledge that on the crime scene today most victims and those committing murders have previously been arrested and charged in connection with other serious crimes. Often, said the Commissioner, they have been arraigned in a Magistrate's court on charges of murder, or illegal firearms, drug possession, armed robbery or other violent crimes and released on bail.
Once they have been freed they return to their communities and continue committing crimes, allowing violence to permeate the neighbourhoods, he said. In other words the revolving door syndrome has suffocated our courts, because cases are not being dealt with efficiently. The root cause? Adjournments.
Mr Paul Thompson, retired deputy commissioner of police, said that recently a person accused of a minor offence wanted to visit Miami, but a court date was interfering with his plans. His lawyer told him not to worry, to go ahead as he would arrange an adjournment.
"That," said Mr Thompson, "would have never happened under Magistrate Wilton Hercules. In the old days you had to appear in person before the magistrate and request an adjournment." Magistrate Hercules, feared by the criminal class, would have probably refused the request -- particularly if it was frivolous. He would have proceeded with the case. No one did foolishness in his court, and everything moved on time. But today there is adjournment after adjournment -- many stretching into years -- is the order of the day. No wonder the cases are stacking up and gathering dust and witnesses are either losing their memories or disappearing.
Another problem, said Mr Thompson, is that an accused person has a constitutional right to choose his own lawyer. Suppose, said Mr Thompson, you have a hundred accused asking for the same lawyer, then immediately cases start backing up until the overbooked lawyer is available to take each case in turn. This, said Mr Thompson, is a major problem that has to be solved if the court calendar is to move smoothly.
Mr Thompson referred to a case that was due in court on Wednesday for final judgment. The case involved the possession of 2,500 rounds of ammunition, hidden in baby clothing. It was discovered by Customs when it arrived by boat at Kelly's dock in early 2008. For two years there was adjournment after adjournment. On Wednesday -- which was supposed to be the final day -- the case was again adjourned, this time to September 16.
"Imagine," exclaimed Mr Thompson, "a simple case of possession that should have taken the court an half hour to an hour has now taken two years and is not yet finished!"
Another case in which he was interested was also set down for Wednesday. It was a case of the arrest of a sole occupant of a car that contained several guns -- Ruger, Remington and Maverick - and several rounds of ammunition. That arrest was made on October 23, 2006 -- nearly four years ago. It was set down for hearing on the prosecutor's list for this Wednesday. However, when Mr Thompson arrived at court on Wednesday, he was told that it was not on the prosecutor's list for that day or any other day for that matter. So what has happened? Is it just going to slide over the edge and get lost?
Mr Thompson named many other simple cases that should have occupied very little time on the calendar, yet they have been dragged over the years. While he was at the court on Wednesday a case for firearm possession came up. "It was a simple possession case," said Mr Thompson, "where only three police witness were needed -- the two officers to tell the magistrate what they found and a third officer from the Armoury to testify that the firearm being held was listed under the Firearms Act. Yet this case was adjourned to March next year."
On Monday we shall tell how this problem was nipped in the bud in 1980 when no-show witnesses -- particularly police officers -- never turned up to give evidence.
When Pericles Maillis acted for a time as magistrate he issued a warrant for the immediate arrest of a police constable who had not shown up to give his testimony. The constable, brought to court under arrest, was made to wait in the prisoner's dock until the case was called. He complained of being "embarrassed."
If this non-appearance continues, said Mr Maillis at the time, there "is going to be a breakdown in law and order in the Bahamas."
And that is exactly what has happened -- it continued and it broke down. Until the individual courts are better managed, cases will continue to take up unnecessary space.
July 02, 2010
tribune242 editorial
Friday, December 4, 2009
Community Activist Rodney Moncur Wants Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham Booted
By Karissma Robinson:
Workers Party Leader Rodney Moncur is calling for Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham to be swiftly removed from office.
Mr. Moncur said the prime minister is "failing miserably" to carry out the laws of the land and hang all those convicted of murder.
He said the prime minister also failed to pass laws that would prevent murderers from being freed on bail.
"Politicians are playing games with human suffering and the prime minister, in particular, ought to be fired forthwith by the Bahamian people, not only for gross incompetence, but for his negligence in maintaining law and order at a time when too many children go to bed crying in loneliness and fear every night because their fathers and mothers have been murdered," said Mr. Moncur.
The party leader said the country has come to the end of one of the most tragic years in history.
He said the nation has witnessed, over the last twelve months, a continued degradation of law and order. In fact he said that the country is "decomposing like a dead body."
Mr. Moncur added that for five long years not one murderer has been hanged, as prescribed by law.
"The record shows clearly that the convergence of legal argument and legal free judgment, during his term of office, led to many murderers being freed to continue to terrorize out communities," said Mr. Moncur.
The issue of capital punishment, he said, is the law of the land and it should be enforced without reference to who believes in it or who does not believe in it. Mr. Moncur said the nation at large should become very suspicious of its leaders, when they prove that they do not have the guts to change the country’s laws out of fear of a political backlash.
Mr. Moncur said his organization is calling for justice and pointed out that a hanged murderer will be forever deterred from carrying out another act of cruel, inhumane and unusual violence of human life.
The Workers Party, along with family members of murdered victims, will be hosting a pro-hanging march at RM Bailey Park on December 12 to demand that no murderer is granted bail and that all murderers are hanged promptly.
December 2nd, 2009
jonesbahamas
Workers Party Leader Rodney Moncur is calling for Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham to be swiftly removed from office.
Mr. Moncur said the prime minister is "failing miserably" to carry out the laws of the land and hang all those convicted of murder.
He said the prime minister also failed to pass laws that would prevent murderers from being freed on bail.
"Politicians are playing games with human suffering and the prime minister, in particular, ought to be fired forthwith by the Bahamian people, not only for gross incompetence, but for his negligence in maintaining law and order at a time when too many children go to bed crying in loneliness and fear every night because their fathers and mothers have been murdered," said Mr. Moncur.
The party leader said the country has come to the end of one of the most tragic years in history.
He said the nation has witnessed, over the last twelve months, a continued degradation of law and order. In fact he said that the country is "decomposing like a dead body."
Mr. Moncur added that for five long years not one murderer has been hanged, as prescribed by law.
"The record shows clearly that the convergence of legal argument and legal free judgment, during his term of office, led to many murderers being freed to continue to terrorize out communities," said Mr. Moncur.
The issue of capital punishment, he said, is the law of the land and it should be enforced without reference to who believes in it or who does not believe in it. Mr. Moncur said the nation at large should become very suspicious of its leaders, when they prove that they do not have the guts to change the country’s laws out of fear of a political backlash.
Mr. Moncur said his organization is calling for justice and pointed out that a hanged murderer will be forever deterred from carrying out another act of cruel, inhumane and unusual violence of human life.
The Workers Party, along with family members of murdered victims, will be hosting a pro-hanging march at RM Bailey Park on December 12 to demand that no murderer is granted bail and that all murderers are hanged promptly.
December 2nd, 2009
jonesbahamas
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