[pf] Better justice.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=177019&thesection=news&th
esubsection=general&reportID=53510  [all on same line in your browser]
  starts:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/pics/tanczos.jpg

  Dialogue:    Many want 'stains' of conviction wiped 

14.03.2001
  Making the punishment fit the crime at the time is the aim of the Clean
Slate Bill, writes its promoter, NANDOR TANCZOS*. 

I've been hearing from a lot of criminals lately. 

Like the 58-year-old Aucklander who got caught in a pub fight 40 years ago
when he had been trying to stop it from the sidelines. 

He landed himself a £10 fine and despite his "excellent white-collar job,"
he still sees his conviction as a stain on his good character. 

Then there is the Auckland pilot who was caught shoplifting at the age of
17. He was convicted and discharged but his police record still hurts. 

"It hasn't been easy with this conviction over my head," he wrote. "I know
what I did was wrong and I am sorry for that but I feel I have paid my debt
to society. 

"How long must I keep paying for it? One day I dream of flying
internationally. Won't it be double jeopardy if I can't because of my
conviction?" 

Like many people with a minor conviction, he is unsure of exactly what he
now can or can't do because of his record. 

Along with many other people, they have written to me after hearing about
my Clean Slate Bill to say that they strongly support it because it will
spell the end of years of shame for them or people they know. 

And there are hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who are in this
situation, particularly those who are Maori and poor.
 ...

* Nandor Tanczos is a NZ Green Party MP. 

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sent on to the Positive Futures list by David.
(David MacClement) davd@ihug.co.nz 
http://www.geocities.com/davdd.geo/index.html#top
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