Prisons - new material (23)
01 December 1997
Mothers in prison Diane Caddle & Debbie Crisp. Research Findings (Home Office Research & Statistics Directorate) No. 38 1997 pp4. This report notes that "Information about the number of mothers in prison is not routinely collected by the Prison Service." It reports the latest (1994) results of a survey of female prisoners.
Prison Privatisation Report International no 7 & 8 (February- March) 1997. Issue 7 has articles on Lockhead Martin the UK subsidiary of the US company that was found guilty of bribery in 1995 and is part of a consortia bidding for Prison Service work.
Wolds prison and the Private Finance Initiative. Issue 8 includes a piece on the brutal treatment meted out by the Corrections Corporation of America (which owns UK Detention Services Ltd that runs Blakenhurst prison) and reports from the UK USA Canada and Australia.
Action Against Injustice Newsletter Issue 1 (Spring) 1997. AAI has been in existence for a year and takes-up cases of wrongful imprisonment and police brutality with the aim of building "links between various individuals and groups campaigning for justice." The first issue covers the Whitemoore escape the M25 campaign and other cases. Available from PO Box 858 London E9 5HU.
Prison sentence calculation Simon Creighton & Fidelma O'Hagan, Legal Action February 1997 pp15-17. The authors explain that law on calculating the length of prisoners' sentences and release dates in the light of recent judgements.
Projections of long term trends in the prison population to 2005, David Turner Sheena Gordon & Iqbal Power. Statistical Bulletin (Home Office) Issue 7/97 (April) 1997. Predicts that the total prison population will increase to 74 500 (from 55 300 in 1996) by the year 2005. Broken down these projections give the following figures: Adult males - 47 500 (from 34 800); male young offenders - 9 900 (from 6 500); remand prisoners - 13 700 (from 11 500) and female prisoners - 3 500 (from 2 300).
Let the punishment stop the crime Sir Stephen Tumin. Times 28.3.97. Feature article by the former judge and HM Inspector of Prisons which notes how Britain punishes convicted criminals more harshly than other European countries: "In Europe sentencing is concerned with what may be just. Here...we are no longer concerned with justice for the individual."