The Howard League

Heya everyone,
I really wanna get as many people as possible to be aware of The Howard League and what they do. I was made aware of the Howard League when a representative came into uni to do a talk. It was a Law lecture but what they represent affects every single person living in the country today.

Basically they work on Penal Reform and have issues with the prison system - mainly focusing on Women and Children in prison, however they fight for ALL prisoners rights. Great Britain's prisons are currently very overcrowded - in this country we have room for 70,000 prisoners and we currently have around 88,000. They accommodate all these prisoners by turning a cell meant for 1 person into a cell for 2/3 people.
The Howard league are most famous for campaigning against Capital punishment which led to it being abolished; they also campaigned for the probation services to be brought in and famously installed a system of victim support (something that would seem so obvious but is only there because of the Howard League)
They have a strong view that prisons are inhumane under a lot of circumstances. We are not talking about the Rapists, Arsonists and Murderers in society because quite frankly they should be locked up and never let out. But what about the people that are going to prison for petty crime such as shoplifting and minor assaults.

The age for criminal responsibility is currently age 10; this is the age of a child still in primary school! This child can read, write, do times tables and probably use a computer but do they have a concept of "real life"? probably not.
Can i ask, Do you honestly believe a child should be put in prison for their crimes? can they truly understand the enormity of what they've done? Surely society should look for the root of the problem and solve the issues surrounding that child before throwing them into a failing system. I know that many peoples response would be that if a child commits an "adult" crime then they should be punished in an adult way but wouldn't you rather the issues be addressed so that they do not reoffend? - I believe in justice but I also believe i would get more satisfaction in that person who committed crime against me to pay their debt to the community and then be helped in such a way that they never reoffend again. 75% of prisoners under the age of 18 reoffend within a year.

if you get a chance please look at www.howardleague.org and have a read of what they do.

I'd also really like your opinions of it and how you feel about prisons and children's prisons.

Lots of love

Danni xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx