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- Tue, 01 Apr 2025 16:46:46 +0000: Dr Ian Bownes obituary - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Psychiatrist tasked with assessing the mental state of Irish republican prisoners in the Maze during the 1980s
When Irish republicans in the Maze prison began organising hunger strikes in 1980 to secure political status for inmates, one of the first experts called in by the Northern Ireland Prison Service was the psychiatrist Dr Ian Bownes.
Though he was then only a trainee, it was his role to assess the mental state of those threatening to starve themselves to death – checking whether they had the capacity to understand that their lives could end and had effectively given their consent freely.
Continue reading... - Tue, 01 Apr 2025 12:14:55 +0000: Labour's populist pantomime over sentencing rules plays into the hands of the right | Janey Starling - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Forcing the abandonment of commonsense, evidence-based guidelines is a new low for a party that once prided itself on justice reform
A progressive sentencing guideline that was due to come into force today has been shot down in the crossfire of the culture wars. This is devastating news for people whose lives would have been changed by the guideline, such as pregnant women and mothers.
The Sentencing Council’s updated “imposition of community and custodial sentences” guideline signalled a change in sentencing. It would have required magistrates and judges to consult a pre-sentence report before deciding whether to imprison someone of an ethnic or religious minority, alongside other groups including young adults, abuse survivors and mothers. It would have taken into account structural disparities in sentencing outcomes, such as the high risk of stillbirth that pregnant women face in prison and the damage caused by separating mothers from children. It would also have introduced measures to combat racism in courts. The UN has described our justice system as systemically racist, and a 2017 review conducted by the now minister David Lammy acknowledged its “racial bias”.
Janey Starling is the co-director of gender justice campaign group Level Up
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Continue reading... - Fri, 28 Mar 2025 15:27:40 +0000: No 10 happy to dip its toe into culture wars in row with Sentencing Council - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
Concerns over sentencing guidelines are genuine but government also hopes to win admirers with tough attitude
From one perspective, having a stand-up row with an organisation meant to advise the government on a key policy area is a bit unseemly. But it is fair to say that Downing Street is ready – you could even say happy – to take on the Sentencing Council.
The row over a review of sentencing guidelines for England and Wales escalated on Friday after the Sentencing Council rejected government demands that it U-turn over a plan for judges to take account of pre-sentence reports before jailing people from ethnic or religious minorities.
Continue reading... - Fri, 28 Mar 2025 12:11:31 +0000: Keir Starmer says all options on table in ‘two-tier’ row with Sentencing Council - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
PM said ministers would consider next steps over guidance for judges in England and Wales aimed at tackling bias
The prime minister has signalled he is prepared to change the law to stop the introduction of “two-tier” sentencing guidelines, after an arm’s-length body resisted pressure to scrap them.
Keir Starmer said “all options are on the table” after the Sentencing Council for England and Wales refused to back down despite pressure from ministers.
Continue reading... - Fri, 28 Mar 2025 01:00:07 +0000: Government opens first-of-its-kind ‘green’ prison in East Yorkshire - Prisons and probation | The Guardian
HMP Millsike, described by critics as a ‘megaprison’, will add 1,500 places to prison estate in England and Wales
The government has opened a first-of-its-kind “green” prison that will add 1,500 places to the bursting prison estate in England and Wales.
HMP Millsike in East Yorkshire, described by critics as a “megaprison”, will be one of Britain’s biggest jails and is the first of four to be built as part of a programme to create 14,000 extra prison places by 2031.
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