Prison works ...... but only if you get the right sentence

• 2 to 4 years: lower re-offending rates than those given 1 to 2 years– re-offending rate 7.2 percentage points lower than for those serving 1

to 2 years (2008)• 1 to 2 years: lower re-offending rates than those given less than 12

months– re-offending rate 4.4 percentage points lower than for those serving

less than 12 months (2008)• less than twelve months: higher re-offending rates than non-custodial

sentences– re-offending rate between 5 and 9 percentage points higher than for

those given community orders or suspended sentences (2008)

Source: Ministry of Justice, 2011 Compendium of re-offending statistics and analysis

2009 prison sentencesSource: Ministry of Justice/ONS

Total number sentenced to immediate custody

100,190

Under 12 months 64,529 (64.4%)

Over 12 months 35,661 (35.6%)

Clarke’s sentencing

reforms

•Tougher non-custodial sentences•Enhanced rehabilitation programmes •Reduce prisoner numbers by 6,000• Keep the mentally ill out of jail• No remand prisoners who would not receive jail sentences at trial• Foreign offenders deported quicker

Proposal Judges able to cut sentences by half where the defendant pleads guilty (previously only reductions up to 33% were allowed)Effect Reduction of prison population by 3,200; saving of £140,000,000

‘Hard cases make bad law’

Bulger case – the history

• Trial, November 1993• Both found guilty of abduction and murder• Sentenced to be detained ‘at Her Majesty’s

pleasure’• Trial judge sets 8-year tariff• Lord Chief Justice increases tariff to 10 years

Howard’s intervention•April 1994: increases tariff to 15 years•Said he was taking into account

the judicial recommendations as well as all other relevant factors including the circumstances of the case, public concern about the case and the need to maintain public confidence in the criminal justice system.

•Howard had received a petition signed by 278,300 people calling for the boys never to be released.

Judicial review

• 1997: Court of Appeal, then House of Lords overturn Howard’s tariff.– ultra vires

• 1999: ECHR rules that politicians should not set tariffs for prisoners

• 2001: Tariff reduced to eight years again• Establishes limits on power of home

secretaries to intervene in judicial affairs

Other consequences (I)

Demonization of single mothers– Thompson, Venables mothers separated– Chaotic upbringing– Generalizable to other social problems– Tory ‘war on unmarried mothers’ (Willetts)– Pro-marriage tax policies a distant consequence?

Other consequences (II)

New ratings systems for videos and video games

• Child’s Play 3• Link discounted, but tighter regulation still introduced

Other consequences (III)

Tougher penalties for young offenders (through legislation)

• Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994– Lowered age at which child could receive an

indeterminate sentence from 14 to 10– Doubled (from 1 year to 2) maximum sentence for

15-17 year olds– Created ‘Secure Training Orders’ to facilitate the

incarceration of 12-14 year old offenders

Other consequences (IV)

Tougher penalties for everyone else (through tougher rhetoric and public opinion)

Rehnquist:Judges, so long as they are relatively normal human beings, can no more escape being influenced by public opinion in the long run than can people working in other jobs.

(Quoted in Green, When Children Kill Children, pp. 5-6.)

Taken from Green, When Children Kill Children