INMATES "GET OUT OF JAIL"CARD

 20-06-2007

The government has confirmed today that thousands of prisoners will be released early - just a week after we revealed that inmates from the West Midlands were being taken overnight to cells in London because of over-crowding.

Over the next 12 months, more than 25,000 inmates will be set free ahead of schedule - thanks to the simple device of cutting 18 days off their sentences.

Bear in mind that most prisoners serve only half their time as it is.

This from a government which promised to be “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime.”

Make no mistake - The Stirrer believes that we imprison too many people in this country. Tagging and community orders are, we believe, more appropriate for those who represent no threat to the public.

But as Gordon Brown assumes office and makes a renewed pledge on law and order, the early release scheme can only undermine credibility in the legal system – and make a mockery of the government’s claim that it has coherent justice policy.

(To see our recent prisons exclusive, click here)

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