Do we need prisons? — 4/5 in The state, crime, prisons, and police

Even the Prison Officers Association say that the majority of prisoners should not be locked up in prison. But what would calling for the abolition of prisons mean now? What does justice mean for us now and what would it mean in the socialist future? "Do we need prisons?" introductory speech by Anita Downs in "The state, crime, prisons, and police" series of meetings. All meetings coming up at: https://workersliberty.org/c19-online . Video: ***Notes from meetings below*** **Key facts** • 79,645 people in prison in the UK • 69% of these have not committed any violent crimes • 27% are BAME (13% in UK population) • 5% are women. 89% of women have not committed any violent crimes • Percentage reporting drug addiction rose 8.4% from 2013/14 to 15% in 2018/2019 (effect of spice) • Mental health – 26% women & 16% men had mental health treatment in the year before prison • 87 suicides in 2019 • 1 in 3 have learning disability or learning difficulty • 62% have reading age of 11 or lower (compared to 15% in population) • 1 in 7 homeless at release (37% of women) • Only 17% in PAYE job a year after release • The number of detained children has decreased, but less so among BAME children. 50% of detained children are BAME • Short sentences of 6 months or less are less effective in reducing reoffending than community sentence. Yet number of community sentences has fallen by half in a decade • 44% leaving prison reoffend within a year **Trends:** • Self harm, violence to each other and staff are all at record high levels. • Prison population was rising until last two years • Overall length of sentences increased • Staffing and budget reduced 2010 – 2015 (POs reduced by 26%) • Inspectors issued ‘urgent’ notifications for many prisons – uninhabitable, inmates in cells for long periods due to lack of staff. Cuts & privatisation • Recruitment from 2016 – POs now 10% down compared to 2010 • No relationship between prison numbers and crime figures **Covid in prisons:** • April – up to 4000 planned to be released due to Covid (vulnerable / pregnant • Less than 100 actually released due to poorly understood plans (up to end of May) • Single cell occupancy would require release of 10,000 – 15,000 • Opted for restrictions rather than release (stopping visits, association) • Prisoners complain of lack of PPE for officers **History:** • Before 1700s – death penalty, public humiliation, corporal punishment, transportation. Prison while awaiting trial. 1777 John Howard – debtors & murderers, women, children, men, should be separated! • 1800s – hard labour, religious instruction. (last public execution 1868)(Hulks ended 1857) • 1877 – 1907 - idea of reform and training, • Early 1900s Churchill, prisoner in Boer war 1899 – reforms – shorter sentences, less harsh • 1948 – Abolished penal servitude and flogging • 1965 – Abolition of death sentence • 1990 – ‘Prison works’ more punitive approach – subsequent Labour and Tory governments – increased prison population, privatisation • 1990 – Strangeways riot Woolfe report (cells should have toilets!!) • Incentives and Earned Rewards Scheme – slavery? **References:** • http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Bromley%20Briefings/Prison%20the%20facts%20Summer%202019.pdf • https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49324718 • https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/sites/crimeandjustice.org.uk/files/09627250802476668.pdf • https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2010/08/10/prisons-tool-capital • Prison Reform Trust • Howard League for Penal Reform