Minister Tackling: Early release creates just 8 spaces for 2026

GREAT BAY--Minister of Justice Nathalie Tackling on Wednesday acknowledged that despite ongoing public debate, early release is not a viable solution to the country’s ongoing prison capacity crisis. Tackling revealed that when her ministry recently reviewed early release options for 2026, the result was just eight available spaces, a number insufficient to meaningfully ease overcrowding at the Point Blanche prison.

“Everybody thinks that early release is the magic solution,” Tackling said. “But when you look at the numbers, it simply doesn’t work. Even if we reduce the threshold to 50 percent of the sentence served, we cannot release anyone for the next year. In 2026, early release would only create eight spaces. That does nothing to resolve the issue.”

The Minister explained that there are daily “impossible decisions” about who to incarcerate. “We had recent cases where we had to deport armed robbers to make space for people convicted of rape. These are horrific crimes, and we cannot allow offenders to return to society and their victims. Every day we are shuffling around trying to decide who gets in and who doesn’t.”

Tackling also described her recent trip to the Netherlands, where she pressed Kingdom partners for help with capacity. “I spent a week in Holland telling everyone who would listen what the problems are and how damaging they are to our society. But everyone – Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, even the Netherlands – is at maximum capacity. The law also requires that a prison sentence be served either in the country where the crime was committed or in another Kingdom country, which further limits our options.”

She confirmed that St. Maarten is even exploring whether regional partners outside the Kingdom could provide space, though this would require complex treaties and management agreements. “These are all the different things we are looking at. But it is difficult for me, because I cannot accept that we live in a society where if you do something, you don’t sit in jail for it. From a criminological perspective, if we want to combat crime, people must feel that there are consequences.”

Minister Tackling said the ultimate relief will only come with the completion of Phase One of the new prison project, which is still two years away. In the meantime, she pledged to continue seeking every possible option to relieve the pressure. “I feel terribly about this situation every single day. We are doing everything possible to find solutions that are realistic and lawful. But the reality is that early release, by itself, is not a solution.”

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