Archive for category Crime
The Macpherson Mindset
Posted by admin in Civil Liberty, Crime, Human Rights, Multiculturalism, Political Correctness, Race and Equality on 19/01/2012
Adrian Hart has written an insightful piece about the Macpherson report and its aftermath at this link.
Linking the Offender and Benefits Databases
Posted by Nigel Williams in Crime, Economics, Social Security on 04/01/2012
The Ministry of Justice and Department for Work and Pensions are to be congratulated for linking together databases of offenders and benefit claimants to see what can be learnt about individuals appearing on both systems. There is enough overlap, people that at different times offend and receive benefits, to reveal some patterns, provided one is careful not to assume that all benefit recipients must also be offenders.
Human rights: in praise of practice over principle
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, Crime, Human Rights on 12/12/2011
Sigrid Rausing offers a powerful and clear defence of keeping European Court of Human Rights’ decisions superior to the democratic will of Parliament. But her argument is lacking in a number of important respects and, in the end, risks weakening the power of the concept of human rights to command reasoned agreement in a democratic society.
Crime, Poverty and Imprisonment
Posted by Nick Cowen in Crime on 28/09/2011
By David Fraser
The Secretary of State for Justice, Ken Clarke, has claimed that recent falls in crime have occurred at a time of increased prosperity. He concluded that therefore the way to reduce offending rates further was to improve prosperity levels generally, and added that there was no link between imprisonment and crime. However, such arguments are not only contradicted by recent empirical research, but by decades of experience from the UK and other countries.
- Read the full comment here.
#Londonsburning
Posted by Nick Cowen in Civil Liberty, Crime on 20/09/2011
By Tom Hall
For a few dramatic days in August 2011 the twin pillars of law and order seemed on the verge of collapse as an epidemic of riots and vandalism spread across the United Kingdom. The question of how a small protest against apparent police brutality in Tottenham could spark upheaval as far afield as Huddersfield has given rise to a number of competing explanations.1 Significantly, many commentators and politicians have homed in on the role of social networking and its relationship with Generation Y. Given Twitter and Facebook’s past form – many have labelled the Arab Spring the “Facebook Revolution” – it is worth seriously considering their effects on Generation Y. This article will tackle the interrelated questions of whether social media caused the UK riots (including Twitter, Facebook, and Blackberry messenger) and, if so, whether these platforms should be suspended from use during times of crisis.
- Read the full comment here.
Ill-Advised Advice Opt Out
Posted by Carolina Bracken in Civil Liberty, Crime, European Union, Human Rights, Immigration on 16/09/2011
Successive governments have been censured for ensnaring the UK in unwanted, unwarranted EU legislation. Given the vigour with which the country has repeatedly signed up to obligations of spurious merit, it is particularly disheartening to see the Government opt out of a Directive that has the potential to assist some of the country’s most vulnerable citizens.
