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Leader's LetterMarch 2005
Should Prisoners be Entitled to Personally Receive Compensation?Do you think criminals should be able to claim compensation for the way they have been treated in prison, and after making some payment to victims be allowed to keep the balance for themselves? This is the Labour Government’s intention with the Prisoners and Victims Claim Bill.On 24 August 2004, the High Court awarded $130,000 in damages to five inmates in Auckland prison after finding that aspects of the Department of Corrections behaviour management regime were unlawful. This decision is currently under appeal. Now, Sam Te Hei who murdered Colleen Burrows in a brutal cold blooded calculated killing in 1987 is seeking compensation for breach of human rights and would get to keep this money.Colleen Burrow’s mother, Mrs Ida Hawkins, had this to say to the Parliamentary Select Committee:“He was sentenced to life imprisonment,he should never get parole. He should never get any compensation” “Te Hei is a criminal, prison is for punishment and life should mean Life in Prison." I wholeheartedly support Mrs Hawkins and want to make sure that people like Sam Te Hei cannot profit as a result of murdering someone and ending up in prison. There is also the case of William Bell involved in the brutal murder at the Mt Wellington - Panmure RSA. He was already on parole for aggravated robbery having 102 previous convictions mainly for violence. Should criminals like this ever be allowed to seek and keep compensation? These people have abused and failed to recognise all human rights which exist in our society today - surely there must be a limit to the way in which they can profit from being sent to prison. Again the views of Ida Hawkins come to mind when she said:“Now he wants human rights!! Human rights are for human beings. Te Hei is not a human being”. In some cases there are no specified victims, such as in drug dealing cases or in cases where the criminal might murder all victims of the family and so in these cases the prisoner would keep all the money. In other cases a person may be in prison for theft from an employer,for example, and that person should be certain of a civilised form of treatment in prison. The view seems to be forming that while we would not want criminals to get anything if we possibly could, nonetheless,in a civilised society even criminals should be entitled to some form of civilised treatment, but if they do receive any compensation then their victims should be the first to benefit and any balance should be paid to a Trust for victims. The Sensible Sentencing Trust submission was along these lines.
As quoted by Belinda Reaney:
“I am horrified to think of Prisoners receiving any form of compensation - I fail to understand how criminals who have committed the most despicable acts on another human being have any rights to claim compensation under the Human Rights Act. ” I would be interested in hearing your comments or views on this issue and can be contacted C/- Parliament Buildings,Wellington, or my email address dail. jones@parliament.org.nz. Dail Jones MP
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