
Do prisons work & are there better alternatives?
Is our justice system really working? The UK has the highest prison population in Western Europe, and it’s set to hit record levels of over 98,000 by 2026 in England and Wales alone.
We are now overusing prisons for non-violent offenses, with almost half of those sentenced serving six months or less. Not only that, but nearly half of these individuals end up back in trouble within a year of release. Mental health issues are rampant, and racial disparities in sentencing are apparent.
Tough questions need to be asked: Do prisons work? Are there better alternatives? And how can we reduce the risk of reoffending once someone’s served their time? Our panel of experts will dive deep into the heart of our justice system’s challenges and explore potential solutions, getting to grips with what needs to be done to generate systemic change.
Speakers:
Shamaan Freeman-Powell is a news correspondent covering a range of stories across the UK including breaking news. She started her broadcast career in Sheffield before moving to London to join BBC Network news, where she broke exclusives news stories and worked on investigations. Shamaan has been praised throughout her career for her dedication to diversity and was nominated for an award for her commitment to telling stories by underserved audiences.
Pavan Dhaliwal is the CEO of Revolving Doors Agency who work to end the revolving door of crisis and crime. Prior to this, she was the Director of Corporate Affairs at MHA, the largest charity care provider in the UK and previously leading policy and public affairs work at The British Humanist Association and Race on the Agenda (ROTA), and as a trustee of the Public Law Project. Pavan has dedicated her career to human rights and equalities in the charity sector.
David Breakspear is a freelance writer, blogger and an active campaigner for prison, criminal justice and social reform. Having been a part of the criminal justice system for four decades, he now writes about his experiences for various publications, including online journals The Norwich Radical and National Crime Syndicate. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
Andrea Coomber is the Chief Executive at the Howard League for Penal Reform. She previously worked at the International Service for Human Rights in Geneva and at the South Asia Documentation Centre in New Delhi. Andrea is qualified as a barrister and solicitor in Australia. She has a BA/LLB (Hons) from the University of Western Australia and an LLM (Dist.) from the London School of Economics. She sits on the advisory panels of several human rights organisations and is a trustee of BAILII.
Attendance is restricted to Conduit members
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