SHORT SENTENCES ARE NOT TO BE DISPOSED OF

 

14. Jun. 2010. – 16:05:31

I am somewhat disturbed to read today that Secretary of State for Justice Kenneth Clarke has indicated that he has doubts on the "effectiveness" of short term prison sentences. In the interview he does not define "short" which in my opinion indicates he is flying a kite to see which way the wind is blowing. There are many charitable organisations whose prime long term goal is the the eradication of sentences of fewer than six or twelve months and the supplanting of them with various forms of community sentences. Those who are against such arguments are diverse and comparisons with so called "reformers" are ludicrous....I would not see a charity eg KEEP OFFENDERS IN JAIL being able to achieve good public relations. Prison reformers when real reforms were needed from the time of Elisabeth Fry are now part of a zealous single item issue. 

Comparisons are regularly made of the cost of incarceration vis a vis out of prison disposals. It is no surprise to even a non economist that building and maintaining huge establishments each to house 500 to 3,000 people to be kept under strict controls leading to a total population of perhaps 100,000 is going to cost per person more than any other disposal. This is a fatuous argument philosophically but excellent for politicians. Since most short sentences are made at Magistrates` Courts this is where Mr Clarke`s observations are aimed. 96% of all criminal cases begin and end at such courts. No major changes in their sentencing can sustain a detailed argument to eliminate them. In addition sentencing is governed by the Sentencing Council which requires benches to state publicly if the guidelines are being subject to deviation in any case. So a committee of publicly appointed members of the great and good fraternity appointed through the Ministry of Justice to produce sentencing guidelines is having sand kicked in its face by those who appointed them. Depending on which statistics are preferred it is estimated that about 90% of offences are committed by those who have a drug problem. It might be as politically an incorrect statement as can be made but there are many cogent arguments for decriminalising the possession of Class A,B and C drugs. Then and only then will there be money available and incentives to control and eradicate this evil at source......the dealer who would still be subject to prosecution would be deprived of his customer and his customer would have the link with criminal activity severed. The details of such a radical proposal are not for this writer to speculate upon at this time. But for all involved drugs and current policies are the elephant in the room.