Alternatives to Prison

David Green, 17 November 2004

This week a private commission of inquiry (the Coulsfield Inquiry) has made yet another call for greater use of alternatives to prison. It criticises prison for failing to prevent former inmates from committing crimes when they are released into the community and then calls for more of them to be given sentences in the community. At least when offenders are in jail they can’t commit crimes against the public. When on community sentences they can and do reoffend frequently.
The Coulsfield Inquiry purports to have surveyed the evidence but doesn’t take the slightest notice of it in framing its recommendations. At least it did not stoop as low as the Youth Justice Board, which recently put out a press release claiming that a failed programme was a success.