pn585. Fix long overdue reform of criminal justice system now

By Jonathon Milne*  in Newsroom: my editing.  Click here for full article.

This is where the buck starts.

The five new ministers responsible for New Zealand's criminal justice system are all Māori and Pasifika; their communities are now challenging them to completely overhaul a system that has put their young people in prison in record numbers.

Sixteen percent of the population is Māori, yet they make up 52.3 percent of the prison muster. Most of those were first funnelled through the youth justice system; an unspeakably awful 95 percent are former welfare kids. It isn't the gangs that act as a nursery for criminals; it is the state care system.