This is a part of No Pride in Prisons’ Abolitionist demands. These demands were originally published as a book. To see a pdf of the book, click here. To buy a copy, please email info@noprideinprisons.org.nz

People in prisons should be able to easily keep in contact with people on the outside in order to access support systems, communicate their needs, and help them reintegrate once released. The Department of Corrections’ practice of isolating people from their iwi, hapū and whānau by placing them in prisons far from home[1] makes correspondence, visitations, and calls both difficult and infrequent. Further, this is counter-productive as measured against the Department’s stated goal of reducing re-offending by 25 per cent by 2017,[2] as regular contact with the outside can help to reduce recidivism.[3]

In particular, No Pride in Prisons demands that the Department of Corrections provides greater availability for prisoners to make phone calls. Although prisoners are guaranteed at least one phone call per week, this call is recorded, limited to a maximum of 5 minutes,[4]can only be to one of 10 pre-approved numbers, and is made at the prisoner’s expense.[5] This is absolutely insufficient. The Ombudsman has also flagged the issue of people placed in prisons far from home having to pay considerably more to make national rather than local calls to their friends and whānau.[6]

Visitation should also be an irrevocable right and Corrections should provide some form of transportation for visitors, especially those whose whānau have been moved to distant facilities (see demand 39). Given the low literacy levels in prison, it is unacceptable that visitation, calls, and correspondence all require paperwork filled out by the prisoner.

The draconian rules about what mail is allowed in and out of prisons must be changed. All books should be allowed as well as access to newspaper and magazine subscriptions, pen pal networks, personal mail, and correspondence courses. The mail room should apply no filtering that is not also applied to free people outside prisons.

[1] Simon Collins and Jenny MacIntyre, “Written Off Because They Don’t Know How to Read or Write,” NZ Herald, 2 March 2006. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10370457.

[2] Department of Corrections, “Our Vision, Goal & Priorities,” Department of Corrections, 4 June 2016. http://www.corrections.govt.nz/about_us/Our_vision_goal_and_priorities.html.

[3] Minnesota Department of Corrections, Effects of Prison Visitation on Offender Recidivism, (St Paul: Minnesota Department of Corrections, 2011).

[4] Department of Corrections, “C.02 Prisoner Telephone,” Department of Corrections, 4 August 2016. http://www.corrections.govt.nz/resources/policy_and_legislation/Prison-Operations-Manual/Communication/C.html.

[5] Department of Corrections, “Phone Calls,” Department of Corrections, 4 August 2016. http://www.corrections.govt.nz/working_with_offenders/prison_sentences/staying_connected_with_friends_and_family/phone_calls.html.

[6] John Belgrave and Mel Smith, Ombudsmen’s Investigation of the Department of Corrections In Relation to the Detention and Treatment of Prisoners, (Wellington: Office of the Ombudsman, 2005), 20.