Memorandum submitted by Sarah Pearce,
University Hospital of North Durham
INFLUENCE OF
PUBLIC OPINION
ON PENAL
POLICY
I write as an experienced magistrate and also
a senior consultant physician in a small city (Durham) with three
prisons. Thus I have practical knowledge and experience of justice
issues. I have also researched aspects of prison and prisoner
health.
During the past 10-12 years penal policy has become
heavily politicised, starting with the slogan "prison works".
It has become clear that the two larger political parties have
each made penal policy a vote-catching issue and the media have
magnified this. High profile single cases have been used by the
media to stir up public feeling. Prison numbers are rising steadily
(and cost, I believe, £35k per prisoner pa) and likely to
result in overcrowding even when "titan prisons" have
been built. This reduces the resources for rehabilitation and
prevention of re-offending. The evidence for all this is already
in your hands. It is also well-recognised that socio-economic
factors, substance abuse and mental health are the major underlying
issues which need to be addressed by means other than locking
people up.
The issues are closely analysed in The Prisoner's
Dilemma: Political Economy and Punishment in Contemporary Democracies
by Nicola Lacey, (Cambridge University Press 2007). She has researched
public attitudes to sentencing and has compared our situation
with that in other European countries and the USA. She makes the
case that as long as sentencing is a major political issue it
seems unlikely that we shall be able to change the direction of
travel. Instead penal populism will hold sway. In the long term
the effect will be greatly to the detriment of our society, not
only because of the economic cost but also the human cost of wasted
young lives. There is the real risk that mass incarceration (as
in the USA) will result.
I strongly suggest, therefore, that sentencing
and criminal justice should be made a non-partisan issue—perhaps
under the oversight of a Royal Commission as suggested by Lord
Ramsbotham (House of Lords, 26 June Hansard). This should
oversee sentencing as well as prisons. It is possible that such
a development might be a relief to both major parties and could
help us again to take a more humane attitude to penal policy.
This would be in tune with Dr Lacey's analysis. The present crisis
may allow this move to take place.
Education of the public should be a priority
(involving the media if they will co-operate). If the public were
aware of the cost of imprisonment (less resources for other sectors
of the public services) it might have some effect.
Sarah Pearce, M.B., Ch.B., FRCP, Cert. Med. Ed.,
J.P.
Consultant physician, University Hospital of North
Durham
Hon Senior Lecturer
August 2008
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