ninme

BBC - France announces paedophile curbs

Mr Sarkozy said a secure hospital would be built to detain paedophiles.

Okay, who remembers this:

me, January 29 - What’s “Um” in Prison Slang?

The Times - My solution to the crisis in our prisons, by Harry Woolf
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, 2000-2005, hands down a verdict on a system facing meltdown

What, then, can now be done? Any action has to involve reducing the lack of balance between the numbers in custody and the resources available to tackle offending behaviour. My recipe, which will be difficult for the Government to swallow, is this:

1) For ministers to announce the action they propose to take to deal with the present crisis;

2) The action to include the repeal or suspension of statutory provisions that force judges to use more and longer sentences than are necessary for the public’s protection;

3) The Sentencing Guidelines Council to be given a statutory mandate to produce guidelines that will result in an appropriate balance between the places and resources available for those in custody and the number jailed;

4) The Government to review the prison population and, as an emergency measure, release on licence those prisoners who can be released without endangering the public;

5) The resources of the Probation Service to be increased to restore its morale; make community sentences a realistic alternative to custody for non-violent or sexual offenders and ensure proper supervision of those released;

6) No further legislation to be introduced without properly assessing its impact on the prison population.

…Why can’t they just build more prisons?

Incroyable.

Update!

I swear I posted the above right before seeing this completely by accident:

Telegraph - Ministers blamed as dangerous prisoners freed

Update II:

Related: They’re putting cops on skateboards. In big shiny white safety helmets. Yeah, that’ll really be down with the hoodies.

Update III:

Whoops, Brett McS in the comments reminded me I forgot my manners. Curtsy: The Policeman’s Blog for that skateboarding link.