Of course whole-life prisoners should be banned from marrying

Is there any point in rehabilitating prisoners sentenced to ‘whole life’ tariffs, who will die in custody? Today’s announcement banning such prisoners from a fundamental human right – to get married – would suggest the state thinks there isn’t.

This act, contained in an innocuous statutory instrument is a rare example of retribution in action. We don’t hear much about revenge in our criminal justice discourse these days – that, after all, is the less pretty descriptor for one of the three main aims of imprisonment. Society takes revenge for harm done on the part of the individual because crime is a societal hurt. This is the reason why such trials are styled as Rex or Regina vs the alleged perpetrator. By convention, these are crimes against the King.

There are estimated to be around 70 prisoners serving a ‘whole life’ tariff in England and Wales.