It’s really awesome when politicians make obvious decisions that will make the country better. Enter Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and his radical proposal to eliminate the 2-for-1 credit given to convicted criminals for time already served. Currently, judges take into consideration time served in remand centres when sentencing criminals. They don’t have to, but pretty much automatically give the 2-for-1 credit.
I’m not planning anything, but I can confidently say that if I were facing trial, I’d do everything I could to drag it out and ensure that I maximize the double-time luxury. I’d be sick. I’d fire my lawyer. I’d ask one of my remand centre buddies to mess me up to delay my trial. Look, I’m not a skilled defendant. I don’t know if these things would work. I’m just saying I’d do whatever I could to spend as much time as possible in remand so I’d have to spend as little time as possible in prison. I’m willing to bet that some defence lawyers in this country offer some sort of sentence reduction strategy.
