Addressing prison letter laws: People should feel safe

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has committed to looking into a law change after a letter written by the mosque attack accused was mailed and later posted in an online messaging board popular with white supremacists.

Corrections already knew about a flaw in the law and the letters should never have been sent in the first place, she said.

There should have been a layer of vigilance for the accused prisoner, she said. ‘‘The victims of the attack, their friends and family deserve better than what has happened in this case.’’

Yesterday, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis reiterated to Cabinet his disappointment at what had occurred.

He updated Cabinet on work being done to strengthen the process of prisoners sending and receiving mail and investigations on the grounds that mail can be withheld. ‘‘The bottom line is people should be safe from people behind bars ... that is why we are taking steps to make sure that is the case.’’

Cabinet discussed if the Corrections Act 2004 was fit for purpose because it did not take into account there was now a wider audience and did not capture hate speech, she said.

Prisoners can send and receive mail and it can be withheld for a range of reasons, but the law centred around threats to the security of individuals.

‘‘We discussed it may not take into account mail being published to a wider audience nor capture broad hate speech,’’ she said.

A law change needed to make sure Corrections were given greater clarity and to ensure there wasn’t the ability to contest decisions they made, she said.

Options for a law change were currently being looked at during the next two weeks and she expected policy work would be put before ministers to make a decision. ‘‘We live in a digital age where the alleged offender in the Christchurch case sought notoriety and that means trying to publish beyond an individuals ... and we have got to ensure the legislation captures that type of grotesque behaviour.’’ Concerns that unsolicited mail from prisoners is being received by the public has now led to a helpline being set up.