Make Justice Work respond to the House of Commons Justice Select Committee report into prison overcrowding
Press Statement: Titan prisons won’t work – Channel funds to alternatives that will
Following the publication of the report by the House of Commons Justice Select Committee into prison overcrowding, Roma Hooper, Director of a new campaign organisation called Make Justice Works says:
“The Justice Committee’s report serves as a damning indictment of the Government’s plans for titan prisons. These are yet another example of knee jerk criminal justice policies that have been forced through with minimal consultation and little evidence that they will actually work. The result is wasted money and wasted lives.
“It is about time Jack Straw heeds the warnings and rethinks the government’s plans for titan prisons. Instead of wasting £2.3bn trying to build their way out of the current crisis the government should channel funds into drastically under-resourced alternatives to custody such as robust community punishments, drug rehabilitation, mental health support and dedicated prolific and priority offender schemes.
“This is not about being fluffy and liberal; it is about using alternatives to custody, for less serious offences, which are proven to be more effective at reducing criminal behaviour, increasing public safety and offering much better value for money. In other words, it is about calling for a criminal justice system that works”.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1. For further information or to speak to Roma Hooper, please contact Geoff Duggan on 0207 031 1164 or 0778 655 7182.
2. Make Justice Work is a new media campaign designed to raise public awareness of the costliness of locking up non-violent offenders and the futility of short-term sentences while at the same time identifying better ways of reducing re-offending and improving public safety. The campaign will launch officially in spring 2009.
3. Roma Hooper is the Director of Make Justice Work. A well known campaigner and penal policy expert she is also a Co-Founder and Chair of the Prison Radio Association, Chair of the Griffins Society (a practitioner based research organisation looking at the needs of female offenders) and Vice-Chair of the Foundation Training Company (an organisation that runs a series of prison based resettlement and development programmes).
