INDEPENDENT AND INTIMATE: THE SERIOUS OFFENDERS' REVIEW BOARD, NEW SOUTH WALES (FROM SERIOUS VIOLENT OFFENDERS: SENTENCING, PSYCHIATRY, AND LAW REFORM, 1991, P 159-169, SALLY-ANNE GERULL AND WILLIAM LUCAS, EDS. - SEE NCJ-147734)

• NCJ Number: 147747
• Author(s): G Egan
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Criminal Justice Press/Willow Tree Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

The Serious Offenders' Review Board (SORB) in New South Wales was established by the Prisons Act 1952 to manage all prisoners who fit the definition of a serious offender.

Abstract

The primary functions of the SORB are to define and identify the serious offender, classify and place these prisoners, issue resentencing reports, prepare release reports, and supervise inmates released on license. The Board meets for at least one full day a month and conducts biannual visits to prisoners. The Board seeks expert opinions from education officers, psychologists, custodial staff, welfare officers, and chaplains; it provides the prisoner with a forum when disciplinary issues arise. Advantages of the SORB include its independence, judicial leadership, outside input, intimate relationship with the prisoners, and success in protecting the rights of inmates. The drawbacks of this system are the preponderance of lawyers among its members, the slowness of response by the Board, cost, and inexperience of some SORB members.