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From the Blog
Huffington Post blog - Don't blame the parents of children who offend
The riots, and the subsequent focus on problem families, have caused people to ask whether parents are taking sufficient responsibility for their children. Louise Casey has just been appointed to join up government policy on troubled and troublesome families.
Huffington Post blog: Do rioters deserve harsher treatment than any other offenders?
English law is incredibly flexible. For most crimes like theft or criminal damage there are a large range of penalties judges can use from imprisonment, to a fine, to community payback (getting offenders to clear parks or paint nurseries or the like). Judges and magistrates are supposed to follow sentencing guidelines, but are allowed to deviate from these depending on individual circumstances. Where someone convicted feels their sentence was unduly punitive, they can appeal it.
Huffington Post blog - Teenagers and knives
Two London MPs are calling for all under-18 year olds found guilty of using knives to threaten to be imprisoned.
Huffington Post blog - Picking up the tab
It costs over £200,000 to imprison a 13 year old for a year yet over 70% are re-convicted within a year of release. Surely we should only spend that kind of money if we really have to?
Warren @ UserVoice: The 'real life' experts
I recently facilitated a discussion on behalf of the Ministry of Justice with a group of ‘real life’ experts on crime. We came together at the end of February to discuss the government’s Green Paper and how it is set to try and improve our criminal justice system. The group didn’t include any professors in criminology, heads of probation or crime reduction charities, or even individuals with countless years experience working with offenders.
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