People Against Prisons Aotearoa

Abolitionist Demand 50: Abolish prisons in Aotearoa.

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

If nothing else, No Pride in Prisons hopes that these abolitionist demands have demonstrated the fundamental injustice that underpins New Zealand’s Criminal Injustice System (CIS). There are a large number of practices that lead to the dehumanisation of those who are unfortunate enough to be incarcerated in New Zealand.

There are those currently languishing in conditions akin to solitary confinement,^[1] stuck in their cells for up to 23 hours a day, and experiencing what the UN has defined as torture.^[2] As a regular practice, incarcerated people are sexually assaulted through a strip search^[3] every time they leave or enter a prison. Trans people in prisons are not given consistent and guaranteed access to gender affirming clothing, accessories^[4] and medical treatment.^[5] Trans women are often housed in men’s prisons,^[6] against their will, put at substantial risk of being sexually assaulted.^[7] Sentenced prisoners are denied the right to vote,^[8] demonstrating the state’s desire to deny recognition of personhood to those people.

Incarcerated people who the Department of Corrections forces to work^[9] in a form of contemporary penal slavery, as well as those who choose to work, are not only being denied a living or minimum wage (or any wage),^[10] but also the right to raise pay and safety concerns.^[11] Whānau and friends of incarcerated people are often denied access to their loved ones during visitation because they cannot afford the time or money required to travel to New Zealand’s often remote prisons.

These practices, as well as the constant threat of violence that incarcerated people face, all make prisons unbearable places to be. The isolation, violence, loneliness, boredom, strip searches, and anger at the system, amongst other things, leads some incarcerated people to lash out against others and themselves. Incarcerated people commit suicide at a rate of approximately 72 per 100,000,^[12] compared with a rate of 12-13 per 100,000 in New Zealand broadly.^[13] This means that incarcerated people on average commit suicide at a rate six times higher than the general population. New Zealand prisons have become a place where we send our most vulnerable and mentally unwell people.^[14] They are also a place where the conditions of life are so unbearable that it is impossible for some to live.

So if the prison is so inhumane, why does it continue to exist? In The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, Jeffrey Reiman notes how the prison is, at the same time, a complete disaster and a resounding success. In terms of keeping communities safe, reducing social harm, or even reducing reoffending, prisons including New Zealand’s, consistently fail.^[15] However, according to Reiman, “the failure of the criminal justice system yields such benefits to those in positions of power that it amounts to a success.”^[16]

This success occurs precisely because of the incarceration of predominantly poor and indigenous people. In New Zealand, Māori make up 15% of the population but over 50% of the prison population.^[17] At every stage of the CIS, racism and racial bias is evident.^[18] These practices ultimately divert attention away from the broader causes of societal harm, such as capitalism and structural racism, and place blame on the incarcerated person for the social forces that lead them to prison.

In a more general sense, the CIS benefits those in positions of privilege by defining the actions of the wealthy as ordinary activities, while the poor are punished for things which are often much less destructive. The practices of those who traded the world into financial collapse, corporations that spew toxins into rivers and the air, the employers who are more concerned with increasing productivity than with protecting the bodies of their employees – these actions amongst countless others of the wealthy do much more damage than the young Māori man possessing methamphetamine. Yet it is the latter that the CIS invites us to fear. The prison diverts attention away from those threats to security that come from the police, other government agencies, and exploitative corporations. Therefore, the successful failure of the prison is that it leaves unquestioned the destructive actions of the powerful.

The abolition of prisons in New Zealand is the only socially acceptable, feasible alternative to the CIS and mass incarceration.

^[1]Radio New Zealand, “Prisoner Death at Mt Eden Prison,” Radio New Zealand, 13 March 2016. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/top/298812/too-many-unnatural-deaths-in-prison-labour.

^[2] UN News Centre, “Solitary Confinement Should Be Banned in Most Cases, UN Expert Says,” UN News Centre, 18 October 2011. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40097#.V5w7O-t96Um.

^[3] T Lamusse, “The State of Incarceration in Aotearoa,” No Pride in Prisons, 23 February 2016. http://noprideinprisons.org.nz/post/139820612145/the-state-of-incarceration-in-aotearoa.

^[4] Jeremy Lightfoot, “C76665 S Vella,” FYI.org.nz, 29 April 2016. https://fyi.org.nz/request/3703/response/12759/attach/html/3/C76665%20S%20Vella.pdf.html.

^[5] Jeremy Lightfoot, “Response C76663,” FYI.org.nz, 29 April 2016. https://fyi.org.nz/request/3701/response/12756/attach/html/3/Response%20C76663.pdf.html.

^[6] Jeremy Lightfoot, “C73361 S Buchanan,” FYI.org.nz, 23 October 2015. https://fyi.org.nz/request/2867/response/10098/attach/html/3/C73361%20S%20Buchanan.pdf.html.

^[7] Valerie Jenness et al., Violence in California Correctional Facilities: An Empirical Examination of Sexual Assault, (California: Center for Evidence-Based Corrections, 2007).

^[8] Aimee Gulliver, “Prisoners Should Be Allowed to Vote: High Court,” Stuff, 4 July 2015. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/70520140/Prisoners-should-be-allowed-to-vote-High-Court.

^[9] Chris Bramwell, “Working Prisons Pledge from National,” Radio New Zealand, 10 September 2014. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/254242/working-prisons-pledge-from-national.

^[10] Isaac Davison, “All Work, No Pay in Prison Reforms,” NZ Herald, 30 January 2013. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10862240.

^[11]Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 s 15.

^[12]No Pride in Prisons, “Corrections Responsible for High Rates of Suicide in Prisons,” Scoop, 14 March 2016. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1603/S00213/corrections-responsible-for-high-rates-of-suicide-in-prisons.htm.

^[13] Statistics New Zealand, “Suicide,” Statistics New Zealand, 3 June 2016. http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/nz-social-indicators/Home/Health/suicide.aspx.

^[14] Department of Corrections, The National Study of Psychiatric Morbidity in New Zealand Prisons: An Investigation of the Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders among New Zealand Inmates, (Wellington: Department of Corrections, 1999.

^[15] One News, “Corrections in the Dock Over Racism Allegations,” One News, 14 March 2016. https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/corrections-in-dock-over-racism-allegations.

^[16] Jeffrey H. Reiman, The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, (Michigan: Pearson, 2004), 5.

^[17] Statistics New Zealand, “New Zealand’s Prison Population,” Statistics New Zealand, 4 July 2013. http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/yearbook/society/crime/corrections.aspx.

^[18] Department of Corrections, Over-representation of Māori in the Criminal Justice System: An Exploratory Report, (Wellington: Department of Corrections, 2007).