1 / 17

Prison works ...

Prison works . ... but only if you get the right sentence 2 to 4 years: lower re-offending rates than those given 1 to 2 years re-offending rate 7.2 percentage points lower than for those serving 1 to 2 years (2008) 1 to 2 years: lower re-offending rates than those given less than 12 months

gyala
Download Presentation

Prison works ...

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Prison works ... ... but only if you get the right sentence • 2 to 4 years: lower re-offending rates than those given 1 to 2 years • re-offending rate 7.2 percentage points lower than for those serving 1 to 2 years (2008) • 1 to 2 years: lower re-offending rates than those given less than 12 months • re-offending rate 4.4 percentage points lower than for those serving less than 12 months (2008) • less than twelve months: higher re-offending rates than non-custodial sentences • re-offending rate between 5 and 9 percentage points higher than for those given community orders or suspended sentences (2008) Source: Ministry of Justice, 2011 Compendium of re-offending statistics and analysis

  2. 2009 prison sentencesSource: Ministry of Justice/ONS

  3. Clarke’s sentencing reforms • Tougher non-custodial sentences • Enhanced rehabilitation programmes • Reduce prisoner numbers by 6,000 • Keep the mentally ill out of jail • No remand prisoners who would not receive jail sentences at trial • Foreign offenders deported quicker

  4. ProposalJudges able to cut sentences by half where the defendant pleads guilty (previously only reductions up to 33% were allowed) EffectReduction of prison population by 3,200; saving of £140,000,000

  5. ‘Hard cases make bad law’

  6. Bulger case – the history • Trial, November 1993 • Both found guilty of abduction and murder • Sentenced to be detained ‘at Her Majesty’s pleasure’ • Trial judge sets 8-year tariff • Lord Chief Justice increases tariff to 10 years

  7. Howard’s intervention • April 1994: increases tariff to 15 years • Said he was taking into account • the judicial recommendations as well as all other relevant factors including the circumstances of the case, public concern about the case and the need to maintain public confidence in the criminal justice system. • Howard had received a petition signed by 278,300 people calling for the boys never to be released.

  8. Judicial review • 1997: Court of Appeal, then House of Lords overturn Howard’s tariff. • ultra vires • 1999: ECHR rules that politicians should not set tariffs for prisoners • 2001: Tariff reduced to eight years again • Establishes limits on power of home secretaries to intervene in judicial affairs

  9. Other consequences (I) Demonization of single mothers • Thompson, Venables mothers separated • Chaotic upbringing • Generalizable to other social problems • Tory ‘war on unmarried mothers’ (Willetts) • Pro-marriage tax policies a distant consequence?

  10. Other consequences (II) New ratings systems for videos and video games • Child’s Play 3 • Link discounted, but tighter regulation still introduced

  11. Other consequences (III) Tougher penalties for young offenders (through legislation) • Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 • Lowered age at which child could receive an indeterminate sentence from 14 to 10 • Doubled (from 1 year to 2) maximum sentence for 15-17 year olds • Created ‘Secure Training Orders’ to facilitate the incarceration of 12-14 year old offenders

  12. Other consequences (IV) Tougher penalties for everyone else (through tougher rhetoric and public opinion) Rehnquist: Judges, so long as they are relatively normal human beings, can no more escape being influenced by public opinion in the long run than can people working in other jobs. (Quoted in Green, When Children Kill Children, pp. 5-6.)

  13. Taken from Green, When Children Kill Children

More Related