Prisoner rights reign supreme in this PC world

And there is no pork in Corrections?

Utterly unbelievable that 80 odd criminals should dictate menus.

Alarm bells ringing

After years of nothing but bad news without responsibility emanating from Corrections, all of a sudden this highly spun release. Follows closely another good news release this week (with date).

All prisoners are searched on their arrival to prison.

Searching is business as usual for custodial staff, but its always nice to get a result and know that you're making a difference.

Good news from corrections? Alarm bells are sounding.

Date please journos. Yesterday? Last week or last century?

Suspicious?

Scene to yet come. Slightly modified defence as used in a recent high-profile case. Nothing to see here...

'He walked into the TV, yer Honour.'

I suppose we will see Corrections will be placing a large order for 50" plasma screens, quoting Elf'n'safety, sometime soon.

Corrections staff on the take

today's Sunday News reports Dixon lived the high life behind bars, with "unfettered" access to Class A drugs and other illegal contraband.

The newspaper also reports that Dixon had sex in prison with a female friend who posed as a registered psychologist to gain entry to his cell in 2003.

And how else would any sane person explain such unfettered access? High time Corrections was exposed to a detailed inquisition, starting with management.

99.95% of the time we are right

After a supposedly minimum security scrot walked free from from a work detail the other day down in the beltway, we have found out he was a convicted axe murderer of some notoriety.

Common sense, which any at the establishment have ever exhibited publicy, suggests that this mongrel would require a higher security classification.

A Corrections spin doctor fronted the news tonight and suggested that

We're confident that in 99.5% of cases we're right

With a recently well publicised total muster of criminals, that have to be locked away fom society under 100% supervision for very good reasons, put at near 9000, a figure like that means that there are probably 90 cases where Corrections has not got it right. They confirm it is even worse than suspected at 140 cases.

100% is the only figure I want to see, Corrections.

Yes, we know!

Hers indoors has made a statement of the bleedin' obvious -

decision by Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor to take a suspended prison guard on a parliamentary rugby trip to France as "a bad call".

"I wished he had asked somebody."

We knew that a few days ago, but what we really want to know, is when he is going to be dealt with and will it be today? You have had three or four days to consider this, whilst you have been on a shopping trip to Oz to get a new Drizabone, nothing else was achieved there except nukes which are now back on the agenda, but we still would like positive action to get rid of this useless minister.

Prisoners to get clean needles - WTF?

Excuse me while I clean up the coffee table this morning after spewing my coffee whilst reading this gem

Needle exchange programmes in prisons and counsellors in police cells are being touted as solutions to drug use in jail

The Drug Foundation, no doubt we pay them heaps to thieve oxygen, want to introduce a clean needle program into prisons because

The fundamental principle should be that any health service available in the community should be available in prison

The reasoning behind the taxpayer having to provide such a service is

For some reason prisoners are able to get their hands on drugs

A better reason might be that Corrections is NOT doing its job in letting drugs get into the prisons in the first place. Just like they control cellphones.

The sooner the totally useless Minister is replaced along with the deadwood at the top of Corrections, we might actually get prisoners to serve their punishment inconvenient incarceration properly.

Corrections Score: FAILED

Corrections have a never ending list their leaders wishes would go away. The Ombudsmen reported their score card yesterday and all day the Minister and the CEO have been carpeted trying to explain away their lack of inaction.

TV1 tonight listed a few of the areas up for discussion - so many I could not keep up - I think I got them all...

• Prison Transport failures
• Parole Board failures
• Corruption within prisons
• Rioting in prisons
• Contraband found in prisons
• Rehab failures
• New Prison build cost overruns
• No spare space in prisons

Looking at the above list, is there any part of Corrections left that could be marked as not failed? The only thing not listed is the kitchen service and some would question that output!

The CEO would have us believe that they have not set out to 'mislead, deceive, hide and deny'. The Minister even is trying to shoot the messenger, stating that

‘I am not sure why … the Ombudsmen may have misinterpreted that information’

I suspect that covering their backsides is the prime game and as always, no-one will be found responsible at the top level.

The person that should go forthwith is the Minister, but Helen does not have any one else to take charge of this poisoned cup, so unfortunately he will be forced to take the heat till fired in the New Year during a cabinet reshuffle.

No matter what these two tout as truth, I suspect the public believes the Ombudsmen have ultimately got it right.