Nr. 57, Oktober 2003
11) Tough sentencing by judges, rather than a rise in crime, has led to the record prison population
The 71% rise in the prison population in the UK between 1991 and 2001 was due to a "misplaced emphasis on toughness rather than effectiveness" as courts sentence more people to prison and for longer terms, according to a report by the Prison Reform Trust. It said the high sentencing rates were influenced by the "increasingly punitive climate of political and media debate about crime and punishment". "The courts will continue to make ever-increasing use of prison unless this climate of opinion changes, and clear and consistent political leadership is needed to make this happen," the report said. It said courts needed to be told to use imprisonment less and where custodial sentences were set, they should be shorter. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3033052.stm
11) Tough sentencing by judges, rather than a rise in crime, has led to the record prison population
The 71% rise in the prison population in the UK between 1991 and 2001 was due to a "misplaced emphasis on toughness rather than effectiveness" as courts sentence more people to prison and for longer terms, according to a report by the Prison Reform Trust. It said the high sentencing rates were influenced by the "increasingly punitive climate of political and media debate about crime and punishment". "The courts will continue to make ever-increasing use of prison unless this climate of opinion changes, and clear and consistent political leadership is needed to make this happen," the report said. It said courts needed to be told to use imprisonment less and where custodial sentences were set, they should be shorter. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3033052.stm