Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.
The UK government is considering scrapping short prison terms as part of a review of sentencing set to be announced later this month. The move would reduce the number of offenders in jails, which many believe are close to collapse. Former justice secretary and Conservative MP David Gauke is reportedly the frontrunner to head the work. In 2019, Gauke supported the idea of scrapping jail terms of less than six months.
Current justice secretary Shabana Mahmood wants to toughen community sentences, which would involve strict conditions and punishments but no time behind bars. Government sources suggest that technology could be used more widely to detain criminals in their homes, citing advances in sobriety tags monitoring alcohol use.
The review will also explore international examples of reducing crime. In Texas and Louisiana, prisoners can reduce their sentences by earning credits for good behaviour. A New York program sends offenders convicted of drug-related crimes on a treatment program; if completed, the charges can be dismissed or reduced.
Ending or moving away from short sentences could greatly reduce the number of women in jail. According to the Prison Reform Trust, over half of jail terms given to women in 2022 were for less than six months. Government data shows that more than half of adults released from prison sentences of less than 12 months went on to reoffend.
The UK government has already released some offenders early to relieve the immediate pressure on prisons. However, prison overcrowding remains a problem and will require further measures to stop breaches of capacity next year. Lord Woolf, a former chief justice of England and Wales, has called for a public inquiry into the penal system, citing public ignorance over what prisons can achieve and blaming “sentence inflation” for prison overcrowding
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. Blocked by captcha.