Category Archives: Prison

Are Whole Life Sentences Inhumane?

Posted on May 11, 2023 by odeboyz

…..when a judge passes a ‘whole life order’. This sentence means that the offender must spend the rest of their life in prison.1 Malcolm Green received a whole life order in 1989 because, it was decided that he would likely … Continue reading →

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Criminal Bankers and Their Keep-Out-Of-Jail Card

Posted on April 27, 2023 by odeboyz

“….more than 17,600 other record[s]… allegedly show how senior banking officials allowed fraudsters to move money [£1.5 trillion] between accounts in the knowledge that the funds were being generated or used criminally. Five global banks were named in the investigation: … Continue reading →

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A skit from ‘Porridge’: Fletcher on Mackay*

Posted on April 20, 2023 by odeboyz

Fletcher: Course, he sees ‘imself as an authority on curry, he does, on account of where he was stationed in the army. Rudge: Where? India?Fletcher: No, Bradford. * Fletcher was a prisoner: Mackay a prison warder: Rudge a fellow prisoner: … Continue reading →

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Should Geriatrics be Imprisoned?

Posted on March 23, 2023 by odeboyz

A 91-year-old man [Eric Grant] has been sentenced to ten years in jail for his sexual offences against a young girl almost two decades ago.1 In 1990, a Conservative white paper concluded: “We know that prison ‘is an expensive way … Continue reading →

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Two Barbaric Sentencing Regimes: England, 1723 and California, 1994

Posted on July 15, 2021 by odeboyz

Background Barbaric sentencing and moral panics are linked. “A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society.”1 The events … Continue reading →

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Vladimir Putin’s favourite joke

Posted on June 4, 2020 by odeboyz

A KGB colonel visits a Siberian youth prison , “Why are you here?” He asked the first youth. “For the past week my clock woke me up early so I got into work early. I’m convicted of being a spy … Continue reading →

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A J P Taylor on the Nuremberg Trials

Posted on May 25, 2020 by odeboyz

Twenty years ago [1963] I published a book about the origins of the Second World War. At the time it was dismissed as wrong-headed and controversial. Now it has become the accepted version for most people. But there still lurks … Continue reading →

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Elderly Prisoners, Over-crowded Prisons and the Coronavirus Pandemic

Posted on March 23, 2020 by odeboyz

‘Prisons designed for fit, young men must adjust to the largely unexpected and unplanned roles of care home and even hospice. Increasingly, prison staff are having to manage not just ageing prisoners and their age-related conditions, but also the end … Continue reading →

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A Ricky Gervais quip

Posted on November 26, 2019 by odeboyz

“My greatest hero is Nelson Mandela. What a man. Incarcerated for 25 years, he was released in 1990 and he hasn’t reoffended. I think he’s going straight, which shows you prison does work.” Chris

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Book Review: Richard Davies ~ Extreme Economies: Survival * Failure * Future – Lessons from the World’s Limits (2019)

Posted on November 7, 2019 by odeboyz

Davies book has three parts. Each part is a case study. Davies’s book reflects global fieldwork, which is done brilliantly. Section one: Survival features an eye-catching analysis of Angola prison in Louisiana, USA. American justice(?) is barbaric,…average sentence for an … Continue reading →

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