Rome, May 2 (LaPresse) – Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, in an interview with PadrePioTV, discussed the issue of prisons. Opportunities for inmates, humanization of punishment, and measures against overcrowding are the priorities for the Minister of Justice. “The rehabilitative function of punishment is realized through two elements: work and physical activity,” Nordio emphasizes, interviewed by lawyer Felice Piemontese. Focusing on work for those serving sentences means, for the Minister, “reducing tensions in prison, learning a profession, and identifying companies ready to hire inmates as soon as they are released.” The bridge to the outside world is essential even after serving a sentence; the Minister recalls the protocol signed with Cnel that launched the “Zero Recidivism” project: “We are confident it will go well,” he assures. “We are working to insert inmates back into society immediately, with fair compensation, to avoid the risk of falling back into the ‘throwaway culture’ that Pope Francis spoke about.” The future direction includes, in addition to building new structures, “alternative detention,” says the Minister. “People who are drug addicts,” he continues, “are more patients to be treated than criminals to be punished, and they can and must be detained in a differentiated way.” Also a priority is addressing the use of preventive detention. Nordio is focused on “that 20% of people detained while awaiting trial, many of whom are later found innocent; there is unjustified detention, which then costs a series of compensations.” Various directions for intervention, but “the guiding principle of the Constitution is the humanization of punishment and the rehabilitation of the inmate,” concludes the Minister.
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