[selchie]

I like the idea of the convict workers reimbursing the prosecutor's office or the victim. I'm not so keen on the idea of unsupervised off-site work and home-stays. Are NZ convicts currently allowed to work at all - in or outside of prison walls? It does help with keeping them active, and the opportunity to earn even a modest wage is incentive to behave. The state and county here often use "con crews" for clearing brush at the side of the roads and for wildfire fighting, among other things. The workers are minimum-security prisoners who have been behaving themselves. They work hard (but no rock-breaking), earn some money, and get out a bit. Sure, occasionally one walks away, but they are usually caught, and wind up serving the rest of their full sentence in the pokey.