Ken Clarke signals 'more sensible' prison sentencing policy
Prison reformers welcome justice secretary's claim that short prison sentences are ineffective in cutting reoffending rates
Ken Clarke questions why prison population is nearly double what it was when he was home secretary in the early 1990s. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images"Prison reformers today welcomed what appeared to be a major shift in the approach to penal policy outlined by the new justice secretary, Ken Clarke, over the weekend.
The lord chancellor questioned why the prison population – at 85,000 – was nearly double what it was when he was home secretary in the early 1990s.
Clarke confirmed that he is looking for cuts in the £2.2bn prison budget and seemed to indicate that he did not regard short prison sentences as effective in cutting reoffending rates.
He acknowledged that members of the public were still "very, very worried about lawlessness" but said that their "fear of crime" is probably out of proportion to what they actually face".
Comment: Ken Clarke, by cutting the prison population, will be only the second person in penal history to have adopted a reductionist policy. The first being Winston S. Churchill, who reduced the prison population by 50%.
Update: As it's the football silly season I'll give you this chant Nice one Ken, nice one son, nice one Ken, let's have another one!
When Is a “Prisoner Release Order” Not a “Prisoner Release Order”?
2 comments:
Worth reminding Ken of that.
That this proceeds from expediency rather than highmindedness is probably less important than that is a journey down the road of common sense and in the right direction for once.
With all the babble about cuts, these are good days to bury good news. The hangers and floggers are too busy minding their arses.
Lawrence M Mead is the academic behind the US's tough welfare system and is bringing his message to Britain.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jun/16/lawrence-mead-tough-us-welfare-unemployed
"For difficult cases, such as fathers who do not work and fail to make child support payments or ex-prisoners on parole, the sanction for not working would be jail"
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