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Originally Posted by me283
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Originally Posted by Graham
Ok, so even though on day release, let's say he shouldn't have had the opportunity to buy a lottery ticket.
What about a packet of cigarettes
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Where would you draw the line and how exactly would you enforce it?
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Well, Paddy's idea would be quite simple, but effective! |
So he borrows a tenner from a mate.
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But if you read my earlier posts Graham, you will see that I believed he should just have been incarcerated for life.
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Yes, but then you went on to say "although on day release he was still technically a prisoner, and (again IMO) should not have had the opportunity to buy a ticket in the first place." which suggests that, as a general principle, you think that prisoners *should* be allowed out on day release, but denied the ability to do some things, so I was trying to find out exactly what things you would consider "acceptable" and which would be "unacceptable" for a day release prisoner.
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The things that you mention suggest that he should be out on day release as some sort of pleasure trip? Tell me, would he be allowed to have five or six pints on day release? Or drive a car? Or chat up women? Someone somewhere has already drawn a line.
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Yes, there are and should be some restrictions (eg IIRC Jeffrey Archer was locked back up after going to a party whilst on Day Release!) and no, Day Release is not some sort of pleasure trip.
The Commons Select Committee on Home Affairs had the following to say about Day Release on the 7th of January 2005:
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[...] "The best way of reducing re-offending is to ensure that prisoners on their release have the ability to get into work and a home to go to."
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"Overcrowding is having a hugely damaging impact on the delivery of rehabilitative regimes across the prison estate, both in terms of quality and quantity of appropriate interventions. We express scepticism about the Home Office's projection that the prison population will stabilise at about 80,000 by the end of the present decade, exactly matching estimated capacity. This projection depends on very large assumptions about the net effect of sentencing changes.
"Regrettably, overcrowding is likely to remain a feature of our prison system for the foreseeable future. It should not be used as an excuse for ignoring the issue of rehabilitation and failing to follow examples of good practice."
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"There should be much greater use of day release schemes on the German model to enable prisoners to experience work in the community prior to their release, and demonstrate their abilities and trustworthiness to employers."
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"The complacent thinking that nothing can be done to rehabilitate short-term prisoners has crippled the response to rehabilitative treatment of those prisoners. A radical rethink is required. This should comprise effective assessment, provision of work and training, and assistance with resettlement."
http://www.publications.parliament.u.../193/19303.htm
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But short of following a prisoner around all the time or having some sort of GPS tracking to record *exactly* where he goes or making them wear a big badge that says "Prisoner on Day Release, don't sell me a lottery ticket", there's really no way that you can prevent them from doing all the sorts of things that appear so unacceptable to some.
And, one final point, if he'd only won a tenner, would there *really* have been such a great fuss about this...?