📢 We know that the prison system is in crisis – but how do we solve it? We need to talk about sentencing. Today we have published a paper from the most senior former judges in England and Wales, calling on the government to reverse the trend of imposing ever longer sentences.

Addressing challenges around sentencing is one of our strategic priorities. For more information and analysis, and to download the paper, visit our website: howardleague.org/news/sentence-…

"If you have prisons that are overcrowded, they cannot be used and cannot function." Former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, discusses the impact of longer sentences and stating the system "is not working properly." trib.al/Rx0iR33 📺 Sky 501

Renting prison cells overseas? We have a blogpost for that. Here is what we published when this idea was first floated - by the Conservatives in October 2023. Many questions for the government to answer if this step is being seriously considered: howardleague.org/blog/renting-p…

.Rachel Treweek welcomes the publication today of the Howard League for Penal Reforms’s paper ‘Sentence inflation: a judicial critique’. The Howard League

📖 Read The Howard League's new paper on sentence inflation here 📈 - howardleague.org/wp-content/upl… More info in the thread below 👇

“The country’s limited resources should be spent in areas that produce a positive benefit. In the case of crime, they should be spent on keeping people out of prison rather than locking them up for ever longer for no gain.”

Sentencing inflation The Howard League publishes a paper by four former Lords Chief Justice criticising the substantial increase in the length of custodial sentences, one of the main reasons for our prison capacity crisis buff.ly/3XxJFGQ

"End ‘sentence inflation’ to reduce prison overcrowding, say retired judges. In a paper published by the Howard League, four former lords chief justice said the UK is heading for ‘US-style mass incarceration’ if the issue is not addressed." thetimes.com/uk/law/article… Matt Dathan

📖 An interesting report from The Howard League - something needs to be done to address the issues in our prisons.

"It's a system completely on its knees. It's a system at breaking point." Our Chief Executive, Andrea Coomber, spoke to BBC News (UK) about record breaking prison population figures, the early release scheme and outsourcing prison places to Estonia.

‘We are sentencing people for much longer than we need’, says former Lord Chief Justice channel4.com/news/we-are-se…

“I don’t think anybody thinks SDS40 will do anything other than provide short-term respite,” Andrea Coomber. “My understanding is it will take about a year for us to be back where we are now, which is on the precipice.” inews.co.uk/news/politics/…

This HAS to be right. When this no of former CJ’s speak out, we SHOULD listen. As David Cameron once said; we should understand a little more + condemn a little less. Prison CAN work but on current numbers it does NOT. Will Ministers face down the tabloid newspapers this time?