Justice

(Return to the manifesto)

We believe current sentencing policy, which seeks to balance multiple contradictory objectives, has failed to reduce crime or protect public safety.

We will redirect sentencing policy toward a single outcome, the provable rehabilitation of criminals. We will invest in the development and deployment of AI-assisted therapy and evaluation programs, which have the potential to provide more effective, efficient, and individualized interventions than traditional methods.

Hobbes wrote that "the aim of punishment is not a revenge, but terror". We regard that as a simple statement of truth. Courts should be directed to sentence solely with the intent of rehabilitation and with no intention to punish, or to deter, or to make restitution, or to avenge. That may or may not increase the sentence but it would pass sentence on an justifiable and ethical basis for the good of society.

Consider a convict who undergoes a course of rehabilitation which has a proven track record of reducing reoffending to less, but at worst the same, rate as the population at large. On what moral basis is the convict to be kept from liberty thereafter?

The prospect of continuing retribution currently reduces the prospect of rehabilitation. The driving force of rehabilitation, and its effectiveness, relies on a recognition by the convict that he is unwell and that he can become healthy.