at last the truth

[Chrisjay]

But in this programme he did not say most drugs and alcohol is smuggled into prison and sold to inmates by the prison officers and the female prisoners who get pregnant in prison are impregnated by the prison officers for 'favours (usually drugs or alcohol).

As I am obviously bias in this discussion having worked and seen the inside of prisons from a totally different perspective I am bowing out of this discussion.  I will add why if it's so great are there so many suicides and self harming going on in prisons usually either by the most venerable or mothers forced to give up their babies that they give birth to in prison. 

Also there are more suicides by victims of male rapes than anywhere else particularly again amongst the young or vulnerable, yes it's a great place to move the pensioners to for all the 'perks' previously listed  

[caminito]

I bow to your superior knowledge 
As I said , I do not have any personal knowledge ,only what I read .

As Ken Clarke said recently
Sentencing should not be based on cost, but on principles of retribution, reflection of public anger and the effective prevention of further crime.  It costs more to put someone in prison for a year than it does to send a boy to Eton – on average £38,000.  The taxpayer is providing keep and accommodation – albeit in grossly overcrowded conditions – at expensive hotel prices for 85,000 people. 

[Chrisjay]

So why is it not working (I know I said I would shut up:-))

There has to be something fundamentally wrong with a system that costs so much to administer (keeping people in prison) and provides such poor results (re offending)

My answer - send people to prison for longer if they have committed a violent offence including manslaughter (this should be in statute but sadly is not)  behind the wheel of a car, and any kind of sexual or violent crime against anyone including threatening behaviour. 

Give better structured community sentences and restitution orders for people committing fraud including benefit fraud and other none violent crimes.  Make benefit fraudsters get a job any job as deducting the restitution from the benefits just means the taxpayer lost the money initially then paid it all over again from the deduction from the benefits and paid any fines again from the benefits.

Introduce a 3 strikes and your out (locked up for double the time normally given) which would make serial offenders think before going for a third try.

Making the media act more responsibly as often their reporting is not accurate notice how they use the words 'alleged' and 'suspected' which gives them licence to print whatever they want without fear of being sued and with no thought for the person either not charged or found not guilty.  How many times do you have headlines 'not guilty' or 'no charges brought' as opposed to 'accused' and accused is not only bias to juries but almost always ruins lives regardless of the outcome.

How would you like to be made front page news in your local paper 'accused of rape' and then nothing when the police bring no further action, not even a small mention???

There is an awful lot wrong with the 'justice' system from both sides of the spectrum and the answer is not throwing money at the problem or lock everyone up and throw away the key but really thinking what crimes constitute a threat to the public and the ones that pose no threat but are still a crime and adjust the system to differentiate and punish accordingly.