Quakers welcome report into ineffectiveness of long sentences

Quakers have welcomed a report which shows that the dramatic rise in long prison sentences does not help victims, offenders or the public.

The Independent Commission into the Experience of Victims and Long-term Prisoners, led by James Jones, former Bishop of Liverpool and of prisons, released its report on 15 June, after two and a half years. It calls for a national debate on serious crime sentencing, backed by a Law Commission review, a citizen's assembly and better public understanding of sentencing. The number of people given a prison sentence of 10 years and above has more than doubled in a decade, but the public remain dissatisfied and victims feel unsafe, traumatised and neglected.

Quakers said that swingeing cuts to prison services, and a focus on retribution, had left prisoners serving long sentences with no help, despite rehabilitation being a legal basis for sentences, and essential to make society safer. "Serious crime is life-changing, for both perpetrators and victims and their families, but rehabilitation, or the potential for healing of wounds inflicted by the crime and its punishment, is largely overlooked in a criminal justice system focused on retribution," said Tim Newell, former prison governor and Quaker restorative justice expert.

The Commission's call for improved access to restorative justice for victims and prisoners was welcomed by Quakers, who have worked for prison reform since the 17th century, thanks to both the Quaker testimony to equality and their experiences of being imprisoned as a radical faith.

Today, 80 Quaker prison chaplains work across the country and others are involved in probation, prison reform and more. Their work shows that victims and communities can heal when offenders take some responsibility and restore the harm to all.

One Quaker prison chaplain said: "Over last 25 years there have been two tremendous cutbacks in staffing levels which we haven't come back from. Provision has been decimated. The Government is proposing to increase the prison population by 45 per cent, but without resources. There is nothing for rehabilitation, just punishment and incarceration."

Commission's Report here: https://icevlp.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/ICEVLP-Making-sense-of-sentencing-web-copy.pdf