Exclusive Warning of overreaction to risk on eve of review of Venables case
Large numbers of prisoners who pose no danger to the public are trapped in jail because society has become risk-averse over whether to release them on licence, the chair of the Parole Board for England and Wales said tonight.
Speaking to the Guardian, Sir David Latham said that public reaction to cases such as Jon Venables, the killer of James Bulger recalled to prison last month, heightened the danger of politicians and parole board members making "skewed decisions" based on wrong assumptions about the risks offenders would pose to the public.
As a result, he said, "large numbers" of prisoners are kept in jail, probably unnecessarily.
"Our release rates have reduced in the last few years in a way which is arguably an over-reaction to public concern about the reoffending by released prisoners," said Latham, who became chair of the board last February. "Actually, the serious further offending rate of released prisoners is just 1-2%; a level that has remained stable for many years."
The risk, said Latham, is that "hard cases, like that of Venables, can end up making bad laws".
Sir David Latham is wrong to blame the public for being risk averse. It is the Parole Board which is risk averse and must take the full blame for the conduct of its members. I am aware that the tabloids such as the Sun and Daily Mail have some politicians like Jack Straw and Alan Johnson knee-jerking to the headlines and editorials, nevertheless, the Parole Board should be above this childish nonsense and treat each case on its merits. A truly independent Parole Board would not take into account either public opinion or opinions expressed in the tabloids when reaching a decision whether to direct the release of a prisoner.
Update: BBC report Sir David Latham says public 'risk-averse' on parole
Further Update: Parole: A view from inside
2 comments:
I entirely agree with you. The Parole Board is maybe independent de jure but certainly not de facto, relying as it does on public perception of risk, created entirely by this government with the introduction of ridiculously severe sentences for relatively minor offences and scare mongering through disproportionate media coverage. Members of the Parole Board are also members of the public. They are often in jobs or come from careers where public protection is the sole motivating factor (such as probation, forensic psychology, victim protection and child protection) and won't be immune to risk averse decision making as they have their own knee jerk reactions. In fact it is now so bad that legal representation at parole board hearings is almost becoming worthless literally as panels simply take the most cautious route ALWAYS. We are in deep doo and while Latham LJ's comments are welcome, they are too little too late.
The risk averse problem is spot on. The same mentality will prevent long overdue of the rehabilitation of offenders provisions so that ex-offenders can have decent chance at getting a job - which candidate will get a vacant job, the one with previous convictions or the one without?
Ermmmm....
Take a wild guess.
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