NCJ Number
129190
Date Published
1990
Length
21 pages
Annotation
Responding to the government's "White Paper," the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) reviews the criminal justice process as it affects offenders convicted by England's courts and assesses proposals for change.
Abstract
NACRO endorses the goal of reducing the use of custody but warns that emphasis on the ineffectiveness of custody and the need to reduce its use must not detract from the necessity to improve prison conditions. Some of the proposals, if adopted, might increase the prison population because of the encouragement given for longer sentences for violent and sexual crimes; the proposals for changes to the parole system; and the likelihood of using custody more in response to increases in the breach of community-based penalties as a result of changes which would make them more onerous. As the White Paper fails to address the overrepresentation of black prisoners, future legislation should incorporate a statement of principle of nondiscrimination in criminal justice and provide for the introduction of ethnic monitoring throughout the system. NACRO endorses the introduction of statutory criteria to govern the use of custody as well as the White Paper's view that a fine is an adequate penalty in most cases.