No fewer than 500 prisoners are set to be released early as part of the United Kingdom government’s initiative to address chronic overcrowding in jails.
This move comes on the heels of a previous controversial policy that saw 1700 prisoners freed last month.
Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has stated that previous errors, which resulted in 37 ineligible prisoners being released mistakenly, had now been “ironed out.”
The review will explore options for implementing tougher non-custodial punishments for some convicted criminals to ensure prison space is available for dangerous offenders, the African Insider reports.
Proposed measures include “nudge” technology—watches or apps aimed at encouraging compliance with conditions imposed on offenders— as well as home detention curfews.
Under the early release scheme, certain non-violent offenders who meet specific conditions can now be released after serving 40 percent of their sentence instead of the usual 50 percent.
Former justice secretary, David Gauke, who is chairing the review, highlighted that the prison population, currently around 89,000, is increasing by 4,500 each year, with 90 percent of those sentenced to custody being reoffenders.
Mahmood explained that the early release scheme was necessitated by a prison crisis inherited from the previous Conservative government.
She noted that after the Labour government took power in early July, they found a prison system “so close to collapse” that it could have caused “the breakdown of law and order in this country.”
She revealed that “in August of this year, we were down to fewer than 100 places across the whole of the country.”
As a Conservative justice minister in 2019, Gauke argued there was a “very strong case” for abolishing jail terms of six months or less, with exceptions made for violent and sexual crimes.
He remarked that, given current reoffending rates, prisons were “clearly not working.” Gauke added, “This review will explore what punishment and rehabilitation should look like in the 21st century, and how we can move our justice system out of crisis and towards a long-term, sustainable future.”
