💡Should magistrates be more representative of the people? Historically, the magistracy has been white, older and middle class. New data has been released - but has the diversity of the magistracy improved? Penelope Gibbs explores in our new Insight⬇️ transformjustice.org.uk/news-insight/s…

Magistrates preside over most criminal court cases (tho not sure they've sat on many riot cases) on the basis that they're representatives of the people who have had training to act as judges. While jury members are randomly selected, magistrates go through a recruitment process

‼️ NEW EPISODE ‼️ How is Starmer doing, 50 days in? Plus guest Penelope Gibbs of Transform Justice on the real state of the prisons mess – and what Labour must do. With Ros Taylor Hannah Fearn & Matt Green Listen listen.podmasters.uk/OGWN240850days…

🚨 SATURDAY MORNING LISTENING 🚨 Starmer’s first 50 days: what’s the verdict? With Ros Taylor Matt Green & Hannah Fearn – plus special guest Penelope Gibbs of Transform Justice on the prisons crisis. Listen 🎧 listen.podmasters.uk/OGWN240850days…

Children & young people’s minister Natalie Don-Innes said it meant “wellbeing and rehabilitation at the heart of their care.”

Wow...a great step forward

Anyone have any data on the proportion of police custody investigation interviews that are no comment?

Capacity Crisis hits womens prisons reformingprisons.blogspot.com/2024/09/capaci…

Are our courts becoming more secret? russellwebster.com/?p=54394

Why diversity matters. Thought provoking guest post by Sam Friedman on Sam Freedman substack on influence of class on left/right leaning thinking. Author & Aaron Reeves analysed whether the class backgrounds of judges who've made decisions on the 467 cases heard by UK Supreme Court

As sentences have got longer and longer, the prison population has risen steeply. The number of people in prison has risen from about 40,000 in 1991, the year in which the Woolf Report into the Strangeways riot was published, to more than 88,000 today.

Am going to the LibDem conference in a couple of weeks & have few meetings arranged & know few people! If anyone is going, interested in discussing the criminal justice system & would like a coffee, let me know (dm or use email on website)

Prisons fullest in 14 years Yet 1 in 5 available Crown Court rooms shut every day this week 493 Court sitting days effectively cut in 1 week Up to 1 in 3 shut all August Prisoners 6/9/24 88,521 🆙 171 in 1 week 🆙1,024 in 4 weeks 1,098 spaces spare operational capacity of

As I have been saying for some time: “judges should stop locking up “everyone we’re cross with” and instead focus on keeping the criminals “we’re most scared of” behind bars” theguardian.com/society/articl…