Prisons — News — Queensland Council for Civil Liberties

Rhyming sound bites won't fix problems with youth justice system

“Mr Crisafulli should tell Queenslanders what he is going to do to remedy the serious failure to rehabilitate young offenders in Queensland juvenile jails and what he is going to do to address the multiple problems in juvenile justice as outlined in Mr Worrall’s Report”, Mr O’Gorman said.

Parole system must be fixed

If the Parole Board is being described as broken for victims’ families it is even more broken for prisoners who have done all required rehabilitation programs but who languish in jail often for many months after their parole eligibility dates because of prisoners being unable to obtain parole accommodation.

Sofronoff report points to need for Miscarriages of Justice Unit

“Fortunately, Mr Sofronoff found it most unlikely that any innocent people have been wrongly convicted as a result of the lab failures. However, the UK Commission has variously estimated that between two to five percent of the British prison population at any given time are victims of miscarriages of justice. We see no reason why that would not be the case here.”

Child Protection (Offender Reporting and Offender Prohibition Order) Bill 2022

We start from the premise that prisoners including those on probation, parole or other post detention supervised release, do not have the same privacy rights as ordinary citizens, but they are not stripped of their entire right to privacy

Review of the Anti-Discrimination Act

One area of inequality is that of social status. Anti-discrimination law is directed at addressing inequalities of social status. It seeks to deal with the fact that some people in our society are denied “goods on the basis of the widely held view that certain facts about them, such as race, gender, or religion make them less entitled to those goods than others are. The fact people are subject to a widely held view of inferiority of this kind- of being less entitled to important goods and opportunities, and less suitable for valued forms of personal relationship-is a distinctive feature of discrimination

Review of continued detention of imprisoned terrorists

As John Stuart Mill argued the preventive power of the State is, “far more liable to be abused, to the prejudice of liberty, then the punitory function; for there is hardly any part of the legitimate freedom of action of a human being that would not admit of being represented, and fairly too, as increasing the facilities for some form or other of delinquency.”

Inspector of Detention Services Bill 2021

The QCCL has been campaigning for an inspector of prisons for years and welcomed the recommendation of the Sofronoff inquiry that one be established. It would however be remiss of us not to mention the fact that it is now almost 5 years since that recommendation was made. However, as they say, better late than never

SubmissionQueensland Council for Civil Liberties18 November 2021Prisons

Proposed Draconian Parole Law Changes

This power to block parole for decades after a person has already served 20 30 years or more in prison will be exercised by the President of the Queensland Parole Board sitting in secret and behind closed doors with the process totally lacking in transparency or accountability.

Media releaseQueensland Council for Civil Liberties20 June 2021Prisons

QCCL calls for Independent Inspectorate of Prisons

Today’s Courier Mail report that a prisoner hung himself from the same hanging point inside the same cell at Wolston Prison in Brisbane just weeks after he was rescued from an earlier suicide attempt has reignited calls for the State Government to set up an Independent Inspectorate of Prisons as a matter of urgency.

Media releaseQueensland Council for Civil Liberties15 March 2021police powers, Prisons

Overcrowding in Queensland Prisons

Today’s Courier Mail report (15/2/21) dealing with serious overcrowding in Queensland jails resulting in fatigued prison officers having to work 18 hour shifts and sleeping in their cars to keep up with the soaring inmate population has caused the QCCL to call on the Corrective Services Minister (Mark Ryan) as to why an Independent Inspectorate of Prisons has not been established in Queensland.

Media releaseQueensland Council for Civil Liberties15 February 2021Prisons

Human Rights Bill

A Human Rights Act is not a panacea, ultimately only an active citizenry can protect our rights and liberties. However, the Act will provide a new tool that citizens of this State can use to protect themselves. Perhaps more importantly, it will force decision-makers to consider the particular circumstances of each individual, about whom they have to make a decision. That must result in better decisions and better government.Despite our criticisms, we are of the view that this Bill represents a bold reform and this is not the time to allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.

Youth Justice Reform discussion paper 2016

Economic research indicates that early intervention is a more cost effective way of dealing with crime than conventional sanctions such as imprisonment

MINISTER SPENCE CONTINUES HER ATTACK ON PRISONERS AND THE RULE OF LAW

The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties has accused the Corrective Services Minister, Ms Judy Spence, of undermining the rule of law in her treatment of prisoners.