Prison population hits record high in England and Wales

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

The prison population in England and Wales has hit a record high of 86,654 following the courts' decision to remand hundreds charged with rioting and looting in custody.

The Ministry of Justice said the prison population had risen by 723 over the past week. Officials are making contingency plans to accelerate the opening of new prison buildings and bring mothballed accommodation back into use.

There are currently only 1,439 spare useable places left in the jail system, but prison chiefs say they remain confident they have enough to cope with those being imprisoned by the courts in relation to the recent riots.

"We are developing contingencies to increase useable capacity should further pressure be placed on the prison estate," a Prison Service spokesperson said.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/19/prison-population-record-high

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Meanwhile in America, conservative columnist Thomas Sowell predicted ("For Whom the Bell Tolls"): "Despite all the damage that was done by these rioters, both to cities and to the whole fabric of British society, it is very unlikely that most of the people who were arrested will be sentenced to jail. Only 7 percent of people convicted of crimes in England are actually put behind bars." He also blamed "politically correct elites" who promoted "alternatives to incarceration": "...those elites have had much more clout for a much longer time. And they have done much more damage."

24-year-old Urusla Nevin has been freed after appealing her five-month jail sentence for receiving stolen clothing, as she did not even participate in the riots. And regarding sentences, this Guardian story I posted last night revealed "."

[geardaddy]

1. So, Mr. Sowell prefers

the rioters/looters to be given lengthy jail terms? :puke:

[alp227]

2. his wish must've come true - see links in my comments after the story excerpt

I just edited to add a story I posted on LBN last night.

[christx30]

5. I guess what we should be going for

is to have as many adults and eligible children behind bars as possible, right Mr. Sowell?
I can see the appeal of that kind of world... Less people in line at the movie theater. It'd help traffic.
Plus we can just lay off all of the free population and use the ready made prison labor (i.e. slave labor).
hope I don't need this... but just in case
:sarcasm:

[iverglas]

3. note that Sowell is a career right-wing hack

using these events to ride his own hobby horse.

He is an African American economist who has made his name by being on the side of "right" on every single imaginable social and political issue: affirmative action, equal pay, firearms control ... the hired black "expert" for anyone who wants to trot out a black face to speak against African-American interests.

"He is currently a Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sowell

"The Hoover Institution is influential in the American conservative and libertarian movements. The Institution has long been a place of scholarship for high-profile conservatives with government experience. A number of Hoover Institution fellows had connections to or held positions in the Bush administration and other Republican administrations. High-profile conservatives Edwin Meese, Condoleezza Rice, George Shultz, Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, and Amy Zegart are all Hoover Institution fellows."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Institution

Poor fellow must be sorely disappointed in his "liberal" adversaries over this ... but he'll probably find another straw enemy soon.

[Odin2005]

4. Sowell is a RW gasbag.