NCJ Number
155400
Date Published
1995
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This manifesto is based on the belief that the overuse of custody in Great Britain, which has the highest proportional incarceration rate of any country in Western Europe, cannot be justified.
Abstract
This manifesto is based on the principles that an effective response to crime requires a sentencing structure that limits the use of incarceration to serious cases and that prisons should treat prisoners with dignity and respect, in an effort to prepare them for their eventual release. Prison overcrowding prevents the Prison Service from providing full and positive regimes for all prisoners, often necessitates transferring inmates to facilities far from their home areas, and increases the likelihood of prison disturbances. The number of both convicted and unconvicted offenders in custody could be reduced by an increased use of constructive community sentences and bail in appropriate cases. This manifesto outlines a series of reforms pertaining to sentencing, bail, alcohol and drug abusers, mentally disturbed offenders, young offenders, prisons and the community, standards and regimes in prisons, prisoners' rights, women prisoners, foreign prisoners, private prisons, resettlement, ethnic minorities, and crime victims.