Irish Penal Reform Trust

International News

"More jails will not solve overcrowding crisis, warns Woolf" by Alan Travis, The Guardian

18th April 2007

Former lord chief justice urges sentencing change. Courts 'should be told financial cost of prison'

"Governors call for fewer jailings, not more jails" by Alan Travis, The Guardian

10th April 2007

Prison governors have delivered an urgent warning to ministers that building new jails will not solve the criminal justice crisis and that too many minor offenders with mental health and alcohol problems are being locked up.

"Hidden costs of locking people up" by Jamie Doward and Denis Campbell, The Observer

8th April 2007

Once additional public costs - such as foster care for prisoners' children and income support - are factored in, the cost of imprisoning for a year soars by nearly a third.

"The prisoners who pay $125 a pack to beat smoking ban" by Chris Ayers, The Times (of London)

21st February 2007

California is being urged to drop or overhaul its no-smoking policy in prisons after black market prices in jail reached $125 (£64) for a packet, sparking riots and a booming trade that is diverting warders from their duties.

Submission of the UK Government to the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Shelley v United Kingdom

15th February 2007

Written submission of the UK Government in the case of Shelley v UK, which examines the issue of prison syringe exchange

"Gun-crime bill on 'deathbed,' liberals say" by Janice Tibbetts, National Post

14th February 2007

There is a general consensus among criminologists that minimum mandatory sentences do nothing to deter crime. The gun crime bill was introduced primarily as a response to a wave of gang-related shootings that plagued Toronto and other large cities in 2005, months before the last election.

Press Release: Prison Growth Could Cost Up to $27.5 Billion Over Next 5 Years

14th February 2007

By 2011 one in every 178 U.S. residents will live in prison, according to a new report released today by the Public Safety Performance Project of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

"Coroner Calls for Clean Syringes in Jails" by Rosemary Desmond, Australian Associated Press

19th January 2007

Following an inquest into an inmate's injection drug overdose at the Woodford Correctional Center, Queensland Coroner Michael Barnes has come out in support of clean syringe access for prisoners.

"Federal drug strategy flawed: study" by Peter O'Neill, Vancouver Sun

15th January 2007

A new Canadian study says roughly three-quarters of federal spending to fight illegal drugs is going towards unproven and possibly counterproductive enforcement measures while an insignificant amount is being spent on potentially more effective "harm-reduction" measures.

CANADA: "Importation of drugs into jails increases despite new efforts to stem trafficking" from CanWest News Service

10th January 2007

The importation of illegal drugs into jails has increased over the past five years despite several new to curb the flow, an internal government audit shows.

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