It is undeniable that the justice system is in complete disrepair (The Guardian view on prison overcrowding: a justice system in meltdown, 24 May) and that both victims and the accused deserve better. But the answer is neither to develop a more “efficient” way of processing offenders nor more prison-building.
Sadly, in the context of a general election, politicians of any stripe are even less likely to admit the truths we all know, not least from a stream of reports and recommendations from the prisons inspectorate, investigation and monitoring boards, reviews, inquiries, coroners’ reports, and testimony from prisoners and their families. That is: there is no evidence base for the claims that prisons keep “us” safe; nor that they deter; nor that they rehabilitate.
