James Forsyth James Forsyth

The case for prison reform

Iain Duncan-Smith has an op-ed in the Sunday Telegraph previewing the Centre for Social Justice’s paper on prison reform. Setting aside the moral case, one sentence in it makes a compelling pragmatic case for it:

“Two thirds of all prisoners are re-convicted within two years and half are re-convicted within a staggering 12 months”

Purely on a cost basis, reducing recidivism has to be one of the many priorities of the prison system. On those grounds alone, the current system is clearly failing and in urgent need of reform. 

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