Correctional Forum

Tuesday's International: No high times in Japan

Japanese inmates at Abashiri prison noticed that marijuana was growing in their exercise yard, but instead of smoking it, they ratted it out. From AP Tokyo:

The marijuana plants started sprouting about a year ago, said prison official Takeshi Okamura. He said officials plucked out as many as 300 marijuana plants and treated the ground last year, but several more sprouted again this year.

Prisoners reported them to the guards.

They've been tested, but there's no evidence any of the prisoners have taken advantage of the hemp's presence.

Japan prison troubled by marijuana plants growing at exercise ground

Tuesday's International: Nigeria needs reform

Two incidents in the past few weeks in Nigeria have pundits calling for reform. From allAfrica.com:

On September 6 this year, the nation witnessed yet another riot in the Kano prisons which culminated in a jail break.

In their bid to quell the incident, security officials killed a number of the prisoners, some of who were awaiting trial. Barely days after, a similar riot broke out in the famous Agodi prisons in Ibadan. It resulted in another jail break. In trying to contain the unruly prisoners, security officials shot dead about a dozen of them.

Sad news. For more on this story, go here.

Making international headlines today

Thousands of prison officers are on strike today in the United Kingdom. The Prison Officers Association was unable to reach an agreement regarding pay rates, so 90 percent of the officers did not report to work.

What happens to prisoners in that situation? They're in lockdown, of course, and it's hard to say how long the strike will continue. From the BBC:

Mark Leech, founder of the Prisons Handbook and a commentator on the penal system, said striking officers were "effectively taking prisoners hostage through this action".

"Every part of prison life comes down to the prison officers," he told the BBC News website.

"Visits will be cancelled, education and offending behaviour courses will not be running."

As is so often the case, it's the prisoners who lose.

Prison officers in strike action

 

Well, that's one approach to overcrowding

Suspects awaiting trial in the U.K. are being moved to apartments and houses to make more room in jails, the Times reports. Low-risk offenders will also be considered for early release.

Naturally, there's opposition. From the Times:

Nick Herbert, the Shadow Justice Secretary, said: “People will be astonished and worried by this latest panic measure to cut the prison population. First we had violent criminals released early on to the streets — now we have free housing for offenders.

“Taxpayers will foot the bill, but they won’t even know that a criminal could be living next door them. If the money is available to give criminals houses, why isn’t it being used to ensure adequate prison capacity?”

But the Ministry of Justice claims this move -- which only affects suspects who are unable to post bail because of an appropriate address -- will ease many problems at once. Again, from the Times:

“The accommodation will allow courts to bail defendants who are currently unable to provide a bail address or who could not be bailed without support,” the ministry said. “This will reduce the loss of liberty and consequent damaging impacts on family life, employment and housing. It will also support the efficient use of public resources, saving on prison places, court escorts and costs of visits to prisons.”

Swapping cells for flats

Women jailed in Nigeria for indecent dress

From the Lagos Daily Trust:

Over half of the women arrested for wearing "indecent" clothes nearly a month ago are still in prison, Daily Trust can reveal. Some of the women who spoke to Daily Trust alleged molestation at the hands of the police.

They accused the police of picking them off the street, branding them as prostitutes and then coming into the cells to sexually abuse them at night.

The police deny this, but say that anyone found "idling around" in skimpy attire would be arrested. Fifty-two of the 100 ladies arraigned in Lagos about three weeks ago for alleged misconduct could not get bail and are in Kirikiri Prison awaiting trail.

Indecent Dressing - 52 Ladies in Kirikiri Prison

Photo of the Day

[Image of an old jail in Annecy, France by Matteo Peraldo, via Wikimedia Commons]

Tuesday's International: Headlines

France: Brother of French justice minister jailed for drug dealing: Rachida Dati (pictured) has made tougher sentencing on repeat offenders one of her priorities as justice minister. Her brother, Jamal, is one such offender. His sentence of one year, considered very tough in France, is a result of her new policies. [Expatica.com]

Ethiopia: Four Journalists Released From Prison on Conditional Pardon: The Committee to Protect Journalists, which named Ethiopia as the world's worst backslider on press freedom this year, welcomes the release of the writers who covered civil unrest. [allAfrica.com]

Barbados: Prison warders not paid since February: But they still have to pay for bus fare. [The Nation Newspaper]

France: French prison doctor gave paedophile Viagra before attack: A bizarre case of a repeat offense in France is bringing about talk of life imprisonment and chemical castration for sex offenders. Sarkozy is under great political pressure. [New Zealand Herald]

Photo of the Day

Image of graffiti on an abandoned prison's wall in Madrid, Spain by Brocco Lee.

South African researchers question longer sentencing

According to Business Day, in Johannesburg, South Africa's prison population is expected to rise by 40,000 over the next 10 years. Two laws are partially to blame for this increase.

The Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1997 provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five, seven, 10, 15, 20, 25 years or life for offenses ranging from theft and corruption to rape and murder. Also included in the law are a number of features designed to keep magistrates and judges from undermining the intended severity of the sentences.

The Magistrates Amendment Act extends the sentencing jurisdiction at the magistrate's court, at both district and regional levels, by increasing the maximum penalties each court can impose. The increases in sentencing severity may be to blame for the increasing prison population.

Business Day cites an article in South African Crime Quarterly by Michael Tonry (pictured), professor of law and public policy at the University of Minnesota, who claims sentencing and punishment have little discernible effect on crime trends and patterns. In comparing sentencing policies and punishment practices between countries, Tonry finds South Africa's correctional system is very similar to that of the U.S., with a shared love for overcrowded prisons and comically long prison sentences. 

One of the reasons typically given for mandatory minimum sentencing is that it levels the playing field, but Tonry says there's no evidence to support that claim. "The primary function of such sentences is for governments to symbollically say 'we are doing something about crime'. This does not fool anybody. The percentage of people who say they are fearful to go out at night before and after the imposition of madatory sentencing does not seem to change," Tonry told Business Day.

To read the full article, go here.

Irish Correctional Officers feel unsafe

According to the Irish Times, the Irish prison officers' association surveyed approximately 10 percent of the State's prison officers. Two thirds said that they felt unsafe at work and a whopping 86 percent felt that they were not being adequately protected. Only one in eight of the officers surveyed said that they were proud to be prison officers, and nearly 75 percent said that they would quit if they found a better paying job.

Part of the reason that we work to make sure that prison conditions are safe is for the correctional officers who work there day in and day out, not just for the prisoners. We're wondering what a survey of PA Correctional Officers like this would show.

Most prison staff 'feel unsafe at work' [Irish Times]

[Image of Giants' Causeway by Darreng]