I am walking home from a fancy dinner and there are a few moments of ❄️❄️❄️ I'm so not dressed for the latter, but it is pretty as it's been largely missing in Glasgow and the West this winter... #frozen #Glasgow

Today in Scottish Parliament, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice set out Scottish Government's response to our independent Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission report and recommendations, published Friday. 🔗 to watch her 7 min statement on our Commission: www.scottishparliament.tv/meeting/mini...

Netherlands: Probation algorithm may be discriminatory, often underestimates risk of reoffending. Dutch #probation use an algorithm, OxRec, that has allegedly never accurately predicted risk of reoffending and is used ~44,000 times a year to advise judges and prosecutors. nltimes.nl/2026/02/12/p...

Psychosocial safety at Australian universities is markedly worse than across the wider workforce and is continuing to decline, research has found #AcademicSky #EduSky #HigherEd https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/psychosocial-risks-university-twice-bad-elsewhere

How community service showed me a different way to live. "I would probably still be out there in the madness and causing bother. I now know through community service that there's a different way to live." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Great to see this Scottish Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission report with a range of helpful recommendations on dealing with the use of imprisonment in Scotland: www.gov.scot/publications...

The Justice that Works report has been published today. It sets out a number of key recommendations, including our call for the Whole System Approach to be extended to under 25s, and our work on making restorative justice consistently available across Scotland.

Children need their families. Refugee children are no different. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The Ministry of Justice has ordered the deletion of the UK’s largest court reporting archive. This risks undermining open justice, and I believe, undermines the public accountability role of the press by making it harder to see what is going on in the courts. www.thetimes.com/article/77b0...

University of Strathclyde is facing questions over whether it failed to follow its own governance rules, as it pushes ahead with job cuts. Strathclyde plans to cut 76 jobs to try to address £35 million funding gap over 2 years. Solidarity with those affected. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2583504...

STV News story on our independent Sentencing & Penal Policy Commission report to reduce the prison population and change Scottish Justice. It's heartening to see First Minister @johnswinney.bsky.social call our work "well considered and thoughtful" #Sentencing #Criminology youtu.be/nyC1gwUwWAA?...

NEW: the independent Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 final report and recommendations have been published today. As one of the Commissioners, this year has involved an enormous amount of work. Our report sets out an agenda for change. 🔗 link to report www.gov.scot/publications...

⚖️ 📢 The independent Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 report and recommendations will be published this Friday 6th February. 🗞 Here is an Op Ed in @heraldscotland.bsky.social by Commission Chair, Martyn Evans, setting the scene 👇 @7vans.bsky.social #Law #CrimSky #Criminology #SocialWork

At the end of last year I headed up to HMP Grampian to hear about prisoner rehabilitation - the vital programmes that can mean people stay out of prison after release. It was deeply moving, often hopeful, and sometimes heartbreaking. V proud of this feature. www.holyrood.com/inside-polit...

Social scientists and old-school Minnesotans like me fret about areas of decline in civic culture (e.g., corporate philanthropy), but we've held up pretty well in volunteering, voting, and mutual aid. And if it's 20-below and your car needs a jump, it's a pretty good place to be.

The Scottish Conservatives want a two child limit on the SNP’s flagship Scottish Child Payment, with the Tories claiming that this benefit (currently £27 per week per eligible child) discourages work and is driving an unsustainable rise in welfare spending. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2580359...

Really hoping that this does indeed get resolved fairly and things can move on. Legal aid is critically important and a decent uplift in fees is the right thing for the Scottish Government to be offering. #LegalAid #Law www.heraldscotland.com/news/2580287...

Policing is devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland, so I imagine this won't be controversial at all.

I love Stephen. The face of a doomed WW1 officer and the wardrobe of John Travolta. #thetraitors

Joanne Young's bravery is breathtaking. Former Councillor pleads guilty to 48 offences of drugging and raping his former wife over a 14 year period. This remains a live case, with multiple men accused and going to trial; contempt of court considerations apply. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

“Look: Rome wasn’t burned in a day.”

Not enough books on Scottish politics are written by women. That's just one of the reasons it is ✨️wonderful✨️ to hear Dr @maydinger.bsky.social has published her research in this new book on Scottish Indy Ref. 🔗 (* before you gasp, academic books are v expensive). link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

JOB: Professional Social Work Adviser for Justice, working in the new National Social Work Agency (NSWA) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿. Full-time, £77k-£89k salary. #Justice #SocialWork #vacancy fa-evxn-saasfaukgovprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

“When I was in Justice, my ultimate vision for that part of the criminal justice system was to achieve, by means of #AI and technology, what Jeremy Bentham tried to do with his Panopticon. That the eyes of the state can be on you at all times," – Shabana Mahmood. www.thenational.scot/news/2578000...

Research published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election shows that two in five economically insecure Scots are also politically disaffected, with the figure rising to more than half of the very economically insecure www.heraldscotland.com/news/2577491...

A firm that runs Scotland’s prisoner transfer service is co-owned by a US corporation providing Donald Trump with bounty hunters for his mass deportation initiative. www.theferret.scot/scotlands-pr...

Drugs crisis inside Scottish prisons is ‘systemic failure of health provision’, the Criminal Justice Committee @parliament.scot has warned. “The impact is felt across the whole prison environment – on people in custody, staff safety, families, and recovery outcomes." news.stv.tv/scotland/dru...

The Report of the Independent Review of Fatal Accident Inquiries relating to deaths in prison and police custody, conducted by Sheriff Principal Ian Abercrombie KC, now published. It covers some substantial issues of #humanrights and issues affecting bereaved families. www.gov.scot/publications...

Some UK Government U-turns are to be welcomed. Their (now ditched) plan to publish the names and photographs of people doing unpaid work as part of their community sentence was as deeply problematic as the quotes in this piece suggest #Probation #CrimSky #Criminology insidetime.org/newsround/go...

A 💥 YouGov poll from Wales 😏 🤗 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 #Senedd

💷 Scottish Budget – Justice headline figures in tables 👇 ⤴️ More money for prisons. ⛔️ No change in Justice Social Work funding. ⤵️ Less funding for #Justice third sector? Expecting this budget may possibly evoke mixed feelings across Scottish Justice, depending on how people & services are affected.

✨️🎓 Funded PhD studentship in #Criminology at University of Glasgow 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, with wonderful PhD supervisors (@fergusmcneill.bsky.social) as part of a brilliant European comparative study on rehabilitation & reintegration. 🔗 for details of this #PhD #scholarship and to apply: www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/soc...

I asked bilingual high schoolers in Glasgow what they made of Nigel Farage's criticism of their language skills... “Speaking another language definitely improved my cognitive skills and my memory", 16 year old Maria told me. "And it opens doors for jobs.” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen takes to Instagram in English to discuss Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, as well as NATO, Europe, and the US. "The world as we know it is breaking apart..." #Greenland #Denmark #Trump #Russia www.instagram.com/p/DTXwE9vjcs...

I just saw someone use the term "slopulism" and it's a very good word. My proposed definition: "Junk policy aimed at populism-inclined voters which will go nowhere and achieve nothing but which strategists believe will win support."

I tried to turn my rage yesterday into something that brings us some light. For @newrepublic.com, I wrote about how 2020 prepared Minneapolis for the current crisis of Trump's DHS. newrepublic.com/article/2050...

Kind of extraordinary that the new Local Growth Fund is to be distributed by the Welsh Government in Wales, but directly by the UK Government in Scotland, and that the rationale for the difference seems to be no more than "we don't trust the Scottish Government".

Breaking: US carrying out an operation to seize a tanker in the Atlantic linked to Venezuelan oil. It is 120miles/200km south of Iceland. Earlier, reports said Russia had deployed a submarine and other vessels to escort the Russian-flagged tanker across the Atlantic. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cw...

Jackson Carlaw MSP is giving such a heartily cheery speech in Holyrood about keeping swimming pools open that he's mocking himself for all the cheesy puns and water references 💧🤽‍♂️🌊🏊‍♀️ He's also making some decent points (e.g., drowning). A change of tone after some serious topics of business today.

what about Ethos - what are the government's guiding beliefs Ends - what is the government trying to achieve Execution - doing the stuff that follows on from the governments ethos in order to meet its ends

A rise in MPs’ casework is a symptom of a justice system under strain, writes @queensparkkaren.bsky.social in @thehousemag.bsky.social.

John Swinney suggests Donald Trump has broken international law over Venezuela regime change. "Having listened carefully to what has been said by the US administration in recent days, I cannot see how international law has been respected here"

Nordic solidarity getting louder tonight, with President of Finland Alex Stubb and Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson re-iterating support for Greenland and Denmark, after Danish PM Mette Frederiksen's comments to Trump. 'No one decides for Greenland and Denmark but Greenland and Denmark themselves.'

Ahead of #Holyrood2026 election, times like these are a reminder of the value of electing MSPs (and MPs) who are known for their integrity and intellect on geopolitics, foreign policy, international relations, war & humanitarian crises. Scotland needs our own wise, principled voices on these issues.

The retired police detective is *immediately* obvious that she's police, before she's said anything. She's not going to be able to hide it. #TheTraitors #TheTraitorsUK

With Holyrood elections on the horizon, I've updated my ScotPol starter pack to include a broader range of analysts in addition to think-tankers and academics. If you (or a colleague) should be in this starter pack but aren't, please let me know!

Happy new release of declassified Cabinet papers Eve, to all who celebrate 🔎📃🥳 #1stJan #NewYear #AnoraksHogmanay

A milestone in Scottish legal history as the abolition of the not proven verdict comes into force on 1 January 2026. On the same day, the jury majority required for a conviction will move from the current simple majority to at least two-thirds of the 15 jurors. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2572945...

One of the strongest justifications for the ECHR and the Human Rights Act is that they provide (some) protection when a government wants to take punitive action against people it decides it doesn’t like - including for politically expedient, even irrational, capricious or ephemeral reasons

📍 Braemar, Aberdeenshire 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 A beautiful place I've wanted to visit for some time. It was fascinating to observe the social dynamics there, with normal folk going about their day, and the ultra wealthy telling their staff/fixers what they wanted next. #Braemar #Cairngorms #Aberdeenshire