Make Justice Work (MJW) campaigns for the wider and more effective use of robust and demanding community sentences as an alternative to short term prison sentences (of 12 months or less) for lower level and non-violent offenders.
Read more

MJW attended the Howard League Community Programmes Awards 2012 at the Kings Fund today. It was fantastic to see so many programmes doing such good work and making a difference. Here are a list of the winners and runners up.
Read more

“Proposals published by the Government to tackle anti-social behaviour risk adding to the pressures on our already overworked courts system and over-crowded prisons. Unless sufficient commitment is made to ensure that such sanctions are robustly administered and resourced, there is a real danger that people will breach their orders and end up in prison to serve a short custodial sentence resulting in a strong likelihood that they will continue offending.
Read more

The government should take note when Mothers Against Murder and Aggression rightly say “there is no point in someone being locked up for six weeks and then released with the same issues and lifestyle because they just reoffend” (‘Repeat offenders who won’t reform commit half a million crimes’ Oct 27).
Read more

Make Justice Work’ is arguing for greater use of community sentences as a better alternative than short prison sentences. I agree – which is why I’m an ambassador for the campaign, along with many others. But my focus is primarily on custody, because the charity of which I’m director largely works inside prison, so my reason for agreeing is slightly different.
Read more

The Justice Select Committee have just published their report into the Role of the Probation Service (July, 2011).  I thought the following quotation was particularly appropriate:
Read more