Archive for December, 2009

Rage against the machine

It seems that rage is the centre of the news today.В  Whether we have the right to inflict retribution following an assault in our home, and raging against the pop music of television talent shows.
Chris Grayling, Tory shadow home secretary, has said his party in government would strengthen the rights of householders to defend themselves [...]

December 21, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Headline grabbing, Sentencing  No Comments

My birthday

It is my birthday today, so I am going to be self-indulgent and talk about issues that are personally close to my heart.
The snow in North London, where I live, was a delight this morning, I spent an hour making vegetarian mince pies for my staff, taking pleasure in looking out onto the white coated [...]

December 18, 2009  Tags:   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Challenges of international talks

The Howard League for Penal Reform was one of the very first non-governmental organisations to secure consultative status with the United Nations, way back in 1947, partly because we had been an active player with its precursor, the League of Nations.В  So it is interesting to watch the challenges being faced by nation states and [...]

December 17, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: International, Uncategorized  No Comments

The Archers and prison visits

The Archers prison based storyline is interesting at the moment because it is focusing on the problems that families face. Matt Crawford is serving a sentence for fraud and spent a few weeks initially in a local prison. His partner, Lilian, had terrible problems finding out when she could visit and what she could send [...]

December 16, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Inside prisons, Prisons  4 Comments

The consequences of a political stampede on anti-social behaviour

The Guardian has a front page story today based on an ICM poll of voting intentions that the Conservative lead is down to 9 points over Labour. So the outcome of the general election is looking a lot less certain than in recent months. We could have a hung parliament, or a slim Labour lead [...]

December 15, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Government policy, Sentencing, Women in custody, anti-social behaviour  2 Comments

A story

I thought I might tell you a story.В  Once upon a time there was a man who did something bad, very bad. It was a once in a lifetime explosion of anger, and he killed the person he loved.
His penalty was a life prison sentence.В  He served the years, many years, many many years.В  As [...]

December 12, 2009  Tags:   Posted in: Inside prisons, Prisons  6 Comments

Pre-budget report

The pre-budget report yesterday included indications of significant cuts in public expenditure, and whilst health and education, quite rightly, looks likely to avoid the worst effects of the economic downturn, the penal system is going to be a victim. The chancellor said that he would protect front line policing and that is the largest part [...]

December 10, 2009  Tags:   Posted in: Government policy, Prisons, Public Services  One Comment

Some good news

For once there is some good news.
Dominic Grieve, the shadow secretary of state for justice, announced a Conservative government would not now build 5,000 new prison places if elected but would focus on regulating the prison population.
The government justice secretary, Jack Straw, announced on Thursday that women should be sentenced in the community and no [...]

December 8, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Government policy, Prisons, Women in custody  One Comment

Youth Rehabilitation Order

The Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO) has come into force as part of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.
When the idea of a shopping list of sanctions from which the sentencer could choose was first proposed, we were very concerned that a child would be given unduly onerous interventions on the spurious grounds of dealing [...]

December 1, 2009  Tags:   Posted in: Children and young people, Government policy, Sentencing  No Comments