International News
Canadian's Doubling Up Prison Cells
10th November 2010
Canada is in the process of increasing their prison expenditure 2.1 billion dollars by 2014 a large amount of which has been allocated to prison expansion to deal with what is becoming a serious problem of overcrowding within the state. A repercussion of this growing prison population and overcrowding is the use of double bunking within the institution.
Economic Climate's Positive Effect on U.S. Prison Policy
5th November 2010
From the 1980s America has seen an explosion in prison numbers, becoming the world leader in regards the rate of incarceration. Every year since 1985 has seen a rise in the levels of people behind bars. A natural corollary of this has been massive growth in the cost of corrections to the state, up 674% in that time period. However, recent information provided by The Vera Institute of Justice in their report The Continuing Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Setting a New Course has shown that these incredible and unprecedented increases may finally be coming to a halt. The catalyst for such being the onset of the worst economic downturn in America since the great depression.
US: 'Mothers Behind Bars'
28th October 2010
'Mothers Behind Bars' is a new U.S. report from the Rebecca Project for Human Rights and the National Women's Law Center, analysing federal and state policies on conditions of confinement for pregnant and parenting women and the effect upon their children.
England & Wales: Pledge to reduce prison numbers
21st October 2010
Justice Minister Kenneth Clarke has pledged to stem prisoner numbers and reduce the current prison population of 85,000 by 3,000 in four years. This will be achieved through sentencing reforms and the "rehabilitation revolution".
UK: The Reality of Short Term Prison Sentences
14th October 2010
Research carried out by the Howard League for Penal Reform, in collaboration with the Prison Governors' Association, has shown that many prison governors do not believe that short sentences are effective.
US: Public Attitudes on Crime and Punishment
12th October 2010
A report from the Pew Center's Public Safety Performance Project on a national poll carried out in the US to explore public attitudes toward crime and punishment.
UK: Plans for prisoners to work 40-hour week
6th October 2010
Announcements have been made this week about plans to get prisoners working a full 40-hour week instead of spending their days in "enforced idleness" in prison cells. However, the extent to which such proposals would be workable in chronically overcrowded Irish prisons is less clear.
Guardian: Former prisons chief attacks Jack Straw over penal reform stance
28th September 2010
Barnardos CEO criticises the political game that will get in the way of penal policy reform.
YouGov/Prison Reform Trust Poll
15th September 2010
A poll commissioned by the UK's Prison Reform Trust on the public's attitudes towards the imprisonment of children.
Punishing Disadvantage: a profile of children in custody
14th September 2010
A new report from the Prison Reform Trust and the Institute for Criminal Policy Research provides compelling evidence for the existence of pathways from disadvantage to the prison.
