News

Our latest eBulletin

Friday, 16 July 2021

Our latest bulletin, sent out on 16 July 2021.

Events

We're excited to announce two new monthly webinars starting in September and one stand-alone event.

'Lunch with...' will explore issues in criminal justice drawing on the experience and knowledge of guests drawn from across the sector on a monthly basis. Chaired by Richard Garside, our first guest will be Chief Executive of The Howard League for Penal Reform, Frances Crook. Register and find out more about the rest of our 2021 lineup here.

'Last month in criminal justice' is a monthly conversation between staff from the Centre and special guests on recent developments in criminal justice. Our first webinar will cover a retrospective on the September party conference speeches, and a discussion on the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill. Register for the first installment here.

Shut the **** up ****: Reason and respect, and the culture of silencing' is a stand-alone webinar featuring speakers Professor Rosa Freedman (University of Reading) and Professor Jo Phoenix (The Open University). They will discuss:

  • The contributions which activists, academics, researchers and policy thinkers can make to public debates about gender and other contentious issues
  • Academic freedom and free speech
  • Whether there is a right to offend or not be offended
  • Legitimate protest, silencing and cancellation

Read more about this webinar and register here


News and Commentary

Ten years ago, the House of Commons Justice Select Committee set up an inquiry into the common law doctrine of joint enterprise after concerns were raised about its operation in the courts. The report of the inquiry, published in 2012, recommended that data on joint enterprise should be recorded. Why has the government still not implemented this recommendation? Read more from Matt Ford on our work with JENGbA on joint enterprise.

This month's piece by Mike Guilfoyle recounts a challenging experience supervising a client who needed consistent and regular monitoring for volatile behaviour, alongside mental health workers.

Our Research Analyst, Matt Ford joined the recent joint enterprise protest. Organised by JENGbA, the protesters marched from Victoria Station to the House of Commons to demand the release of their families and friends imprisoned using joint enterprise. Speakers included David Lammy MP and Andrew Mitchell MP. Find out more about the protest and our work with JENGbA on joint enterprise here


Projects latest

Join our movement!

Now that we're coming out of the worst of the pandemic, we're moving forward with our After Prison workRead Matt Ford on what the project is about and how you can join us in our call for the redevelopment of land currently occupied by prisons, for the benefit of local communities.

While you're here, sign up to our After Prison mailing list and you'll receive the first bulletin next week with lots of information about prisons and how you can get involved.


An eye on criminal justice

Chair of the Independent Monitoring Boards, Dame Anne Owers, has warned of the detrimental effects of lockdown on prisoners and urges those in positions of responsibility to learn lessons from this unprecedented period. Whilst restrictions are being lifted in the community, in prisons the punishing lockdown regime has been slower to ease. What impact and legacy will strict lockdown measures in prisons have on prisoner mental health and wellbeing?

Check out our commentary from the last year on the impact of COVID-19 and lockdown on prisoners' health, safety and wellbeing from a range of authors.

The Centre for Mental Health recently published a review of mental health care in prisons. Commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement, the report is the first of two parts. The review will be followed by a mental health needs analysis for the English estate. Read Russell Webster's informative summary here and the full report here

The interim report to investigate police engagement with women and girls was published last week. The report calls for urgent reform of services responsible for tackling crime and offending, which is at 'epidemic' levels against women and girls. Commissioned by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the report should feed into the Government's strategy tackling violence against women and girls. The final report is due in September this year.


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