Category Archives: Prison reform

Bourgeois Vengeance: The Sycamore Tree Two

Posted on July 23, 2025 by odeboyz

Background Karl Marx would call Adam Carruthers and Daniel Graham ‘lumpen proletariat’ or,less elegantly, ‘losers.’ They achieved 15 minutes of fame by destroying an iconic tree. It was owned by the National Trust. The Trust has millions of middle-class influencers … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Rory Stewart ~ Politics on the edge: A memoir from within (2023)

Posted on September 21, 2024 by odeboyz

Political memoirs are exercises in self-glorification. This makes them tedious unless well-written with colourful ‘assassinations’ that are stiletto sharp. Stewart’s book is successful. His critique of David Cameron and Boris Johnson is masterful. His pen portraits of fellow MPs doesn’t … Continue reading →

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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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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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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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Negotiated death sentences for heinous criminals in Britain 2019

Posted on January 3, 2019 by odeboyz

Expressing surprise at the few votes required for an acquittal, Socrates joked that he be punished with free meals at the Prytaneum (the city’s sacred hearth), an honour usually held for a benefactor of Athens, and for the victorious athletes … Continue reading →

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Britain’s incoherent drug laws

Posted on August 31, 2018 by odeboyz

The British government’s rhetoric about drug use is facile. Heroically misplaced aspirations are paraded with the premise that positive action will be decisive. A so-called Drug Tsar was appointed as long ago as 1998. Why, one wonders, would a British … Continue reading →

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Book review: Anonymous ~ The Secret Barrister: stories of the Law and How It’s Broken

Posted on August 7, 2018 by odeboyz

The Secret Barrister quickly establishes his non-traditional background. He was educated at a comprehensive school and isn’t a high-flyer. His post-2000 career has been blighted by reductions in legal aid payments. He offers many examples of stellar legal work but … Continue reading →

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Traditional forms of punishment: Britain* 1700-1900

Posted on April 2, 2018 by odeboyz

Traditionally, British judges sentencing criminals had five principal options: capital punishment, corporal punishment, exile, imprisonment and torture. Judges sentencing criminals to ‘savage’ sentences were using proportionate and appropriate punishments according to the expectations of the time. The sentences were anticipated … Continue reading →

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Capital Punishment as Entertainment in England, 1649-1868

Posted on October 13, 2017 by odeboyz

The King’s head was held up to the crowd. The spectators, some who had watched in approval and some in dismay, were quickly dispersed by officials, but a few sought grisly souvenirs of the event rushing forward to dip their … Continue reading →

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