"What needs to change for probation to be more effective?" That's the question @napotheunion.bsky.social & @crimeandjustice.bsky.social are asking in the 2nd annual Mike Guilfoyle Essay Prize. Think you know? Submit your Essay. Closing date 31 Mar 👉

I spoke to BBC Verify the other day about the silly suggestion by Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, that prisons could check prisoners’ cells to work out if they have been accidentally released

What we tolerate becomes the norm A thread on #systemschange and our responsibilities to make it happen 🧵🧵🧵

Article in this morning’s Independent on what next for the Prison Service after the mistaken release of Hadush Kebatu I told the paper that individuals should be held accountable for mistakes, but the underlying context is a prison system in crisis

Our Co-Director Professor @adamcrawford.bsky.social led a roundtable discussion on the importance of listening to the voices of people with lived experience at @crimeandjustice.bsky.social's event on diversion last week. Read more 👇 vulnerabilitypolicing.org.uk/news/centre-...

📣 Read CJA Trustee Dr Thomas McNeil's latest working paper, written for @crimeandjustice.bsky.social The paper reflects on the key challenges to organisational change and cultural reform in policing, analysing community rehabilitation initiatives. www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/diversion-we...

We’re currently recruiting for a policy and communications officer Great job for the right candidate On the downside, you’ll be working with me quite a bit of the time www.charityjob.co.uk/jobs/centre-...

Smart, self-critical and less patronising Is it time for a rethink on the way criminal justice reformers do criminal justice reform? My latest commentary on what’s what www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/smart-self-c...

New report out today: Understanding Dual Contact for Women In this @crimeandjustice.bsky.social Working Paper, our Head of Policy Kirsty Kitchen discusses the significant, but largely neglected, overlap between the criminal justice system and children’s social care. bit.ly/3Ul7kb8

The criminalisation of young adults Liat Tuv of CCJS examines how the CJS is processing young adults and reveals that young women are being inappropriately detained, while Black defendants are facing tougher penalties than White defendants. www.russellwebster.com/the-criminal...

Smaller, but tougher Our new report, out today, reveals that fewer young adults are being sent to prison than a decade ago, but those who are imprisoned are getting much longer sentences #SmallerButTougher

Interesting new research out in the British Journal of Criminology Homicides in El Salvador rose when tough on crime policies were pursued, and fell when policies based on truces and negotiation with and between gangs were followed academic.oup.com/bjc/advance-...

We have now published all the commended essays (and the winner) of the inaugural Mike Guilfoyle Essay Prize. The annual competition, run with @napotheunion.bsky.social , honours Mike’s memory by encouraging reflections on all that is valuable and important in probation.

Approach with caution: Does the UK have anything to learn from Texas? A rare opportunity to hear from Michele Deitch, one of the foremost US experts on prisons and sentencing policy. @crimeandjustice.bsky.social event 21 July lunchtime www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/approach-cau...

What's the best way to prepare for #BSC2025? We recommend reading BJC’s new virtual issue, which explores how #criminology can advance social justice — expertly curated by @francispakes.bsky.social and @drlisasugiura.bsky.social. :et us know your thoughts 💭 🔗 https://oxford.ly/3HYHarS

‘Prison was the first place we felt sisterhood’: six women return to the ruins of Holloway In an astonishing new documentary, former inmates go back to the cells that once held them. The result is a powerful indictment of our justice system www.theguardian.com/film/2025/ju...

My latest commentary on our current crop of politicians Burdened by the past and fearful of the future, they are stuck in a doom loop www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/building-bet...

Join us for our next event, Echoes of tomorrow, on 24 June We’ll be discussing how on present-day criminal justice policy-making is haunted by past decisions and anticipations of what the future might hold

Any Sentencing Review must surely be just a first step in the long promised fundamental appraisal of our entire neglected desperately underfunded Justice system.

A couple of quick thoughts on the Sentencing Review, due out today Successive governments and parliaments have been persistent offenders: driving up sentence lengths, pitching the prison system into recurring crises, then casting around for fixes for the mess they have created

The prison population level is “unacceptable” “There is no money available for the construction of expensive new prisons and many worthwhile schemes to improve the lot of both staff and inmate have had to be postponed or cancelled” Written in 1977, but could have been today

When was this written? “Many members of the Prison Service... have lived in hope for years of seeing, not merely adequate resources to end the sheer physical chaos of overcrowding, but recognition of and encouragement for the positive and imaginative part of their work”

Pick of the week The Guardian recommends the four-part ‘In it together’ podcast on joint enterprise we produced with @jengba.bsky.social All episodes now out. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts

“The terrifying thing for me is that someone will be listening right now and think everything coming out my mouth is just utter nonsense, then in about three month’s time, they'll probably ring us up and say, 'my son's been charged with murder, but he hasn't done anything’”

“Hope is a very dangerous commodity […] but hope also keeps him alive. I think hope is actually, as long as it's managed, it keeps them going” - Charlotte Henry talking about her brother Alex Henry in episode three of In It Together.

#jointenterprise #podcast #maxinepeake @jengba.bsky.social @crimeandjustice.bsky.social podcastingtoday.co.uk/maxine-peake...

"Should the autistic person have known that someone might be carrying a weapon? You know, it may not even have crossed their mind" - Professor Simon Baron-Cohen in the third episode of In It Together.

“I don't think the law, in and of itself, is inherently racist, but there are triggers within the law that encourage racist practices to come out of its use” - Dr Nisha Waller in episode two of In It Together.

“I think when you’re a child and you see everyone in court in robes and wigs, it’s quite intimidating […] I heard ‘guilty’ and I was so confused […] and then from there, like, I couldn’t, I wasn’t even listening anymore” - Joseph Appiah in the second episode of In It Together.

“If I done 18 and a half years and still don't understand it, I can't understand how someone getting sentenced next week, last month, two years ago is going to understand it because it's not fit for purpose” - Christopher Richards in the first episode of In It Together.

“If you say to a jury, well, it doesn't matter what contribution they make […] the only thing you've got to consider is did they assist or encourage. You know, a bunch of phone calls might look like encouragement.” - @felicitygerry.bsky.social in episode one of In It Together.

In It Together: The #JointEnterprise Podcast. Listen to the trailer here & the full series drops in April & beyond. Hosted by #MaxinePeake with real stories of unimaginable injustice & a campaign that won’t backdown. shows.acast.com/in-it-togeth...

“There are some areas where the law isn’t working, joint enterprise is one of them” In a new podcast, Maxine Peake explores joint enterprise, who it affects, and why campaigners are arguing that justice is not being served by these vague laws.

I've written an article for @crimeandjustice.bsky.social on the idea of early release based on participation in education and what it'd take to make it work, based on @prisonersed.bsky.social's submission to the sentencing review.

Last week we shared expertise on safeguarding & violence reduction at the @crimeandjustice.bsky.social Offensive Weapons Homicide Review (OWHR) roundtable. We informed how OWHRs can help agencies understand the causes of violence, prevent homicides involving weapons & keep young people safe.

I and colleagues @crimeandjustice.bsky.social are working through the back issues of Prison Service Journal as part of a project to get the entire back-catalogue digitised There’s some gems, including this from the then principal of the Danish training school for prison officers, writing in 1966

There’s a pretty punchy report out today from MPs on the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, on the government’s prison-building plans How’s it going? Not at all well

A criminal justice system which works for women New report from @crimeandjustice.bsky.social and National Women's Justice Coalition www.russellwebster.com/a-criminal-j...

For years, the criminal justice system has been designed for men, leaving women overlooked and underserved. It’s time for a redesign of the justice system that follows through on prioritising women. A short thread.

A little read for a Friday afternoon. We also argue that reform needs development of a compelling narrative that can bring public debate to a better place as regards crime and punishment.

Thank you @dannyshaw.bsky.social for writing this really informative piece for our website on the political row over the new Sentencing Council guidelines on community and prison sentences www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/political-ro...

Over the past 24 hours, the Justice Secretary has said she is opposed to “any differential treatment before the law” Yet last September she said that “prison isn’t working” for women and that she wanted “to reduce the number of women going to prison” Which is it?

“Only innovation will turn the corner away from crisis and towards delivering public confidence in the criminal justice system to its highest levels” @sashynathan.bsky.social on why effective criminal justice reform rarely generates clicks www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/effective-cr...

Our justice system, designed for men, is not working for women Our online event, on 18 March, will here from Birth Companions’ Naomi Delap and women’s justice expert Liz Hogarth on what needs to be done www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/online-event...

I was sorry to learn of the death of Martin Wright, restorative justice champion, and a kind, generous soul He was a trustee of @crimeandjustice.bsky.social for many years, well into his seventies, and we kept regularly in touch after he stepped down rj4all.org/remembering-...

Thank you @luketaylorld.bsky.social for highlighting the importance of a public health approach to tackling knife violence earlier today and for mentioning our work

Last week our Director, @richardjgarside.bsky.social, argued that the prisons were in a terrible state because politicians had failed to think through what prisons were for, how they should be organised, and how they should be paid for What do you think? www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/we-can-all-d...

"It’s a win win if more cases can be diverted from court." - @penelopegibbs.bsky.social in @crimeandjustice.bsky.social. Increased diversion should lead to lower reoffending and more capacity in the courts for the most serious cases. Full article here⬇️ www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/free-courts-...

Too much of court time is spent on trivial cases that the police could handle, argues @penelopegibbs.bsky.social of @transformjustice.bsky.social This is the first in a series of articles we are publishing, discussing ideas for sentencing reform www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/free-courts-...

Decaying, short-staffed prisons no place for rehabilitation Our evidence to the House of Commons Justice Committee inquiry into prison rehabilitation and resettlement www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/decaying-sho...