Photo: By Hasan Almasi on Unsplash.
Taking stock: Melanie Jameson marks Prisons Week
‘For people still in prison, it will be a long, slow haul.’
Our dysfunctional prison system has been in the news recently. But neither the early prisoner releases nor the expedited new prisons resolve deep-seated problems.
In July, Quakers in Criminal Justice (QICJ) pointed out several unaddressed issues, the foremost of which is ever-lengthening sentences. The Howard League has now highlighted these in a ‘judicial critique’. Experts, including former chief justices, have called for ‘an urgent independent review of sentencing legislation and practice’. Both the Prison Governors Association and the new Justice Committee chair have welcomed this. A misguided belief that longer sentences deter crime flies in the face of the evidence, but being ‘tough on crime’ remains a popular stance, voiced recently in Robert Jenrick’s Tory leadership bid.
The main Labour Party conference announcement concerned women in prison (widely acknowledged as the most damaged prison population). A Women’s Justice Board is to be established, ‘leading to more appropriate residential and community provision’. Jean Corston, a baroness, published a report on women in prison back in 2007, concluding with forty-three recommendations. It was accepted by the government at the time but never fully implemented. Now is the time to revisit this document.
A way forward had also been proposed regarding the discredited Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP)sentences. The core recommendation, that all IPP prisoners are re-sentenced, was disregarded by the last government, but it has resurfaced in a private members bill. Meanwhile the Victims & Prisoners Act, which shortens the timeline on the termination of IPP sentences for those released into the community, is coming into effect. QICJ members with IPPs have received confirmation that this applies to them. But for people still in prison, it will be a long, slow haul.
Prisons Week (13-19 October) is now upon us. This event, almost fifty years old, is supported by a growing number of Christian organisations and prison charities. We are urged to ‘pray not only for offenders and victims of crime (recognising that many people in prison are both) – but also for families, friends, prison staff, chaplains, police and probation’. QICJ always marks this week with an awareness initiative, but this year there’ll be three! Titled ‘The Good, The Bad & The Ugly’, we will give a series of talks on Zoom (see www.qicj.org).
In ‘The Good’ we’ll hear of a groundbreaking prison regime, which provided an effective model of rehabilitation. Our second session focuses on the work of a former Quaker prison chaplain, who took on ‘The Bad’ by going public about the appalling conditions in HMP Wandsworth. The group she founded has evolved, developing good relationships with the new government. Finally, we consider challenging the negative ‘Ugly’ discourse around prisoners, from certain politicians and tabloids. We can draw on the recent Swarthmore Lecture, QICJ’s work on welcoming ex-prisoners into Meetings, and learn from Quaker prison chaplains.
Prisons Week is a good time to take stock. Please join us.
Melanie is clerk to QICJ.
