At last, consensus on all three fronts

Posted October 14, 2010

With the party conferences behind us and a new leader of the labour party, it will be interesting to see if there emerges a genuine consensus in the arena of criminal justice. Never before have we seen the potential for all three parties to sign up and agree that short term prison sentences do not work and that community alternatives are the way forward.

We have heard the rhetoric – let’s see if this turns into policy.

community, criminal justice, short term sentences

Roma Hooper

Roma has worked in and around the criminal justice system since 1992, when she was asked to help set up Britain’s first prison radio station at Feltham Young Offenders’ Institution. She has a Masters in Criminal Justice Policy from the London School of Economics, is Chair of the Griffins Society (supporting women in the criminal justice system), Vice-Chair of the Foundation Training Company (which runs a series of prison and community based resettlement and development programmes) as well as Chair and Founder of the Prison Radio Association. In 2010 she launched Make Justice Work, a campaign to highlight the cost of short-term prison sentences and to improve public confidence in community sentences.