Serving time: Jonathan Ranger has a good example

‘In most cases, imprisonment is not the answer.’

On 12 July the Howard League for Penal Reform (HL) held a special meeting – an appreciation of the service of its director from 1971 to 1982. This was Martin Wright, now aged ninety-three, whose Quakerism has always informed his criminal justice work. Martin is recognised as a key instigator of Restorative Justice (RJ), both in Britain and Europe, and is a founder member of the RJ Council. He remains tireless in advocating RJ as an official and viable approach to addressing the harm caused by crime – something that the justice system fails to do.

Introducing the evening, Andrea Coomber, the CEO of HL, outlined its new five-year strategy, focusing on the acute crisis in prisons, as prisoner numbers are set to rise to 106,300 by March 2027. She said: ‘The League will challenge the overuse of incarceration, and the injustices and human rights violations that take place behind prison walls. We are going to put the case for a more humane, evidence-based approach to crime and punishment.’

Tributes to Martin followed from two members of Quakers in Criminal Justice whose work is recognised internationally: Mike Nellis (a criminal and community justice specialist) spoke of Martin’s work with Radical Alternatives to Prison, his connections with the social justice charity Nacro, and with other organisations supporting prison and justice reform. He held up Martin’s 1982 book, Making Good – ‘still a must-read text.’ Marian Liebmann (an expert on RJ) gave a moving tribute to Martin and described some of the work they had done together, in particular pushing the authorities to allow the murderer of Ruth Moreland to meet with Ruth’s mother, to explain ‘why’. This led to an important publication.

Then Martin spoke, asking us to think of Kherson in Ukraine – it was there that HL namesake John Howard died, from an infection he was working to prevent. Next, we were reminded that the chief inspector of prisons had again reported that many prisoners are only allowed out of their cells for two hours a day – including meals and ‘exercise’. Martin calls this regime ‘Purposeless Inactivity’. He stressed that two-thirds of prisoners had experienced violence and often abuse at home, suffered exclusion from school and use Class A drugs. On top of all this, how can incarceration lead to better outcomes for them?

‘Prevention is paramount and the causes of offending must be addressed,’ Martin urged, stressing the need for a new criminal justice paradigm. ‘If you cause harm, you must make amends. But, in most cases, imprisonment is not the answer. Far better that the offender has free time taken away (or put to use in other ways) without adversely affecting work and the family.’ This can be accomplished through day centres, disqualifications from certain activities, community service, or other constructive actions.

The first two directors of HL were Quakers. Mike Nellis described Martin as a shining example of Friends’ involvement in penal reform. Long may it continue.

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