Case Studies on Prison Reform: The Global Perspective
By Carolina Beirne, Zyna Shoukat and Sharanya Swaminathan, 9/4/2020
Progressive Criminal Justice: A Case Study in Scandinavian Nations
The Scandinavian countries, namely Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, have a drastically different criminal justice system with far lower incarceration rates than in the United States or the United Kingdom. Their progressive approach to criminal justice stems from not only the system, but also the way of life in these nations and the economic and social welfare they promote. The aforementioned nations place a large emphasis on human rights and seek to invigorate the prisoners to become more productive citizens after they are released.
In 1968, the Norwegian Association for Criminal Reform (KROM) was formed after the harsh treatments in the justice systems were critiqued. Medical treatment was offered, juvenile delinquency centers were removed, and forced labor systems were also abolished. Instead of only penalties in prison, the offenders would serve penalties in society for lighter crimes. This might mean community service, electronic tracking with perhaps a GPS, and drug rehabilitation programs. In this way, prisoners are able to continue their jobs and be with their families while they serve in whatever manner. That said, crimes like genocide or crimes against humanity are not taken lightly. There are still closed prisons, as safety of the citizens is always important. Overall, this justice system helps contribute to why Scandinavian countries have some of the lowest crime rates in the world.
As mentioned, the Scandinavian justice systems heavily prioritize human rights over immediate incarceration. Their sentencing procedures come from experts in the justice systems, sociologists, and psychologists instead of from politicians. In fact, there is no death penalty in these nations or life imprisonment. The longest time that a citizen can be imprisoned for is 21 years, but the rehabilitation programs often allow prisoners to be released even sooner. Studies have proven that imprisonment is not the most efficient method of changing the behaviors of these prisoners so that they do not recidivate. In the United States, two thirds of prisoners reoffend in less than three years after they leave prison. This inefficiency is counteracted with alternative sanctions in Scandinavian nations and it has been productive. In addition, Nordic countries do not prosecute people younger than fifteen, another demonstration of their dedication to protecting youth rights. Instead, they offer “youth care” and help these individuals break out of systemically-imposed issues.
Norway is home to the best prison – two words that seem to juxtapose one another – in the world. It is, however, true that the Halden Prison provides services such that the entire environment feels like an assisted living home instead of a set of metal bars. The guards do not hold weapons and the prisoners are given opportunities to work with mediators. This method of treatment is largely the reason that, according to the Incarceration and Recidivism: Lessons From Abroad Report in 2014, Norway's recidivism rates is one of the lowest in the world at 20% compared to the 52% and 46% recidivism rates in the United States and the United Kingdom respectively.
These nations have a fair amount of open prisons. There is more leeway for prisoners to escape because of the minimum security, but many choose to maintain their integrity and change their lifestyle. The offenders are allowed phone usage, visitations, an ombudsman to represent them, and professional training.
The Scandinavian criminal justice systems also do not imprison drug abusers, although they are not treated as kindly as other criminals. Still, in contrast to western thought, they aid drug abusers in gradually weaning off their addiction. Contrary to many fallacies when it comes to drug abusers, harsh imprisonment and removal from drugs is not the solution. Through the decriminalization of drug use, the Scandanavian nations approach addiction as a health crisis as opposed to a criminal act by offering them safe and regulated injection methods monitored by health professionals to help them wean off their addiction and allow for them to ultimately have a chance at a better life.
Ultimately, these nations believe that prisons and incarcerations should be for the purpose of restricting violent prisoners from committing more crimes and helping them change their ways so they return to society as better members. It is evident that meaningless imprisonment does not help the individuals and the criminal justice system must be more humane. Learning from the successes of nations like Norway and Denmark, the criminal justice systems globally can be changed.
In 1968, the Norwegian Association for Criminal Reform (KROM) was formed after the harsh treatments in the justice systems were critiqued. Medical treatment was offered, juvenile delinquency centers were removed, and forced labor systems were also abolished. Instead of only penalties in prison, the offenders would serve penalties in society for lighter crimes. This might mean community service, electronic tracking with perhaps a GPS, and drug rehabilitation programs. In this way, prisoners are able to continue their jobs and be with their families while they serve in whatever manner. That said, crimes like genocide or crimes against humanity are not taken lightly. There are still closed prisons, as safety of the citizens is always important. Overall, this justice system helps contribute to why Scandinavian countries have some of the lowest crime rates in the world.
As mentioned, the Scandinavian justice systems heavily prioritize human rights over immediate incarceration. Their sentencing procedures come from experts in the justice systems, sociologists, and psychologists instead of from politicians. In fact, there is no death penalty in these nations or life imprisonment. The longest time that a citizen can be imprisoned for is 21 years, but the rehabilitation programs often allow prisoners to be released even sooner. Studies have proven that imprisonment is not the most efficient method of changing the behaviors of these prisoners so that they do not recidivate. In the United States, two thirds of prisoners reoffend in less than three years after they leave prison. This inefficiency is counteracted with alternative sanctions in Scandinavian nations and it has been productive. In addition, Nordic countries do not prosecute people younger than fifteen, another demonstration of their dedication to protecting youth rights. Instead, they offer “youth care” and help these individuals break out of systemically-imposed issues.
Norway is home to the best prison – two words that seem to juxtapose one another – in the world. It is, however, true that the Halden Prison provides services such that the entire environment feels like an assisted living home instead of a set of metal bars. The guards do not hold weapons and the prisoners are given opportunities to work with mediators. This method of treatment is largely the reason that, according to the Incarceration and Recidivism: Lessons From Abroad Report in 2014, Norway's recidivism rates is one of the lowest in the world at 20% compared to the 52% and 46% recidivism rates in the United States and the United Kingdom respectively.
These nations have a fair amount of open prisons. There is more leeway for prisoners to escape because of the minimum security, but many choose to maintain their integrity and change their lifestyle. The offenders are allowed phone usage, visitations, an ombudsman to represent them, and professional training.
The Scandinavian criminal justice systems also do not imprison drug abusers, although they are not treated as kindly as other criminals. Still, in contrast to western thought, they aid drug abusers in gradually weaning off their addiction. Contrary to many fallacies when it comes to drug abusers, harsh imprisonment and removal from drugs is not the solution. Through the decriminalization of drug use, the Scandanavian nations approach addiction as a health crisis as opposed to a criminal act by offering them safe and regulated injection methods monitored by health professionals to help them wean off their addiction and allow for them to ultimately have a chance at a better life.
Ultimately, these nations believe that prisons and incarcerations should be for the purpose of restricting violent prisoners from committing more crimes and helping them change their ways so they return to society as better members. It is evident that meaningless imprisonment does not help the individuals and the criminal justice system must be more humane. Learning from the successes of nations like Norway and Denmark, the criminal justice systems globally can be changed.
The U.S.
The American legal system is said to be built on justice, but seems as though the timeless phrase, “innocent until proven guilty,” has been subverted; now, one is often considered to be guilty upon arrest, and reliant on a trial for exoneration.
It appears that the legal system is one which is out to punish those within it, as can be seen in the fact that the United States has the highest incarceration rate on the planet. According to a report published by the Justice Department, 1 in 37 adults are in prison or have served legal time there – that is 5.6 million Americans. The chances of imprisonment are enhanced by race, as a Black male’s chances of going to prison in his lifetime are about 1 in 3, for a Hispanic male, 1 in 6, whilst the figures for white men remain considerably lower at a 1 in 17 chance. Moreover, the sentencing of different races is astronomically different. Take, for example, Brock Turner, a white man arrested and charged with two counts of felony sexual assault and two counts of rape after he was caught assaulting an unconscious student outside a fraternity house after a party. After trial, he was found guilty of three counts of felony sexual assault, and though prosecutors recommended six years incarceration time, he received 6 months, of which he served only half. In stark contrast, Bernard Noble, a 49-year-old black man is serving over thirteen years behind bars due to being caught with a very small amount of marijuana, with no chance of parole and denied petitions for clemency. Overall, these numbers are staggeringly different and point to broader failures in American society, pertaining to over-policing of people of colour and economically disadvantaged peoples.
Perhaps one of the most prevalent cases of a miscarriage of justice was that of Mumia Abu Jamal, who was accused of killing a police officer in the early 1980s. The state’s version of the case is as follows: “Mumia shot the police officer while standing outside of the officer's car while the officer was seated inside. Mumia was then shot in self-defence by the officer with the same pistol that Mumia shot the officer with. We are supposed to believe that Jamal shot the police officer while the officer was in his car and that the officer then somehow wrested the gun from Jamal and shot him. Jamal who lay close to death then somehow cleaned off and returned the pistol to his cab before the paramedics arrived. While unconscious, near-death and being driven to emergency in a nearby hospital, Jamal allegedly confessed to shooting the officer. Mumia lay near death with a bullet in his chest. The cop was dead when paramedics arrived.” However, the bullets found in both Mumia Abu Jamal and the officer did not match the calibre of the gun Jamal was alleged to have. Moreover, the state failed to recognise witness testimony of seeing a man running from the scene as the witnesses were discredited in court due to challenges to their character. In fact, a confessor came forward later and said that they killed the officer! Yet, surpassing reason, Mumia sits on death row awaiting execution, and appeals for a retrial are denied. It is believed that due to Jamal’s associations with the Black Panther movement that these decisions are intrinsically racist.
There should be reasonable doubt to consider in any court case, but it has instead been used in reverse to protect the guilty but deemed irrelevant in other cases. However, in the aforementioned cases, the fact of reasonable doubt was violated. It is clear throughout history – for example, Senator McCarthy and the Senate House Hearings on Un-American Activities, where hearsay ruined lives, due to Cold War paranoia of Communism in the American democracy. But, with a justice system as flawed as America, who’s to say there’s still a valued democracy to uphold?
Following the September 11th attacks of 2001, the United States has seemingly done away with habeas corpus, a recourse where a person can report unlawful detention to court to determine the legality of the detention, in favour of the Patriot and Homeland Securities Act. The United States acts on fear of crime and the need for control of its citizens, which has led to the criminalisation of its people, especially those of ethnic minorities, thus the justice system in America is not only racist and flawed but failing the very essence of what it was established to be.
It appears that the legal system is one which is out to punish those within it, as can be seen in the fact that the United States has the highest incarceration rate on the planet. According to a report published by the Justice Department, 1 in 37 adults are in prison or have served legal time there – that is 5.6 million Americans. The chances of imprisonment are enhanced by race, as a Black male’s chances of going to prison in his lifetime are about 1 in 3, for a Hispanic male, 1 in 6, whilst the figures for white men remain considerably lower at a 1 in 17 chance. Moreover, the sentencing of different races is astronomically different. Take, for example, Brock Turner, a white man arrested and charged with two counts of felony sexual assault and two counts of rape after he was caught assaulting an unconscious student outside a fraternity house after a party. After trial, he was found guilty of three counts of felony sexual assault, and though prosecutors recommended six years incarceration time, he received 6 months, of which he served only half. In stark contrast, Bernard Noble, a 49-year-old black man is serving over thirteen years behind bars due to being caught with a very small amount of marijuana, with no chance of parole and denied petitions for clemency. Overall, these numbers are staggeringly different and point to broader failures in American society, pertaining to over-policing of people of colour and economically disadvantaged peoples.
Perhaps one of the most prevalent cases of a miscarriage of justice was that of Mumia Abu Jamal, who was accused of killing a police officer in the early 1980s. The state’s version of the case is as follows: “Mumia shot the police officer while standing outside of the officer's car while the officer was seated inside. Mumia was then shot in self-defence by the officer with the same pistol that Mumia shot the officer with. We are supposed to believe that Jamal shot the police officer while the officer was in his car and that the officer then somehow wrested the gun from Jamal and shot him. Jamal who lay close to death then somehow cleaned off and returned the pistol to his cab before the paramedics arrived. While unconscious, near-death and being driven to emergency in a nearby hospital, Jamal allegedly confessed to shooting the officer. Mumia lay near death with a bullet in his chest. The cop was dead when paramedics arrived.” However, the bullets found in both Mumia Abu Jamal and the officer did not match the calibre of the gun Jamal was alleged to have. Moreover, the state failed to recognise witness testimony of seeing a man running from the scene as the witnesses were discredited in court due to challenges to their character. In fact, a confessor came forward later and said that they killed the officer! Yet, surpassing reason, Mumia sits on death row awaiting execution, and appeals for a retrial are denied. It is believed that due to Jamal’s associations with the Black Panther movement that these decisions are intrinsically racist.
There should be reasonable doubt to consider in any court case, but it has instead been used in reverse to protect the guilty but deemed irrelevant in other cases. However, in the aforementioned cases, the fact of reasonable doubt was violated. It is clear throughout history – for example, Senator McCarthy and the Senate House Hearings on Un-American Activities, where hearsay ruined lives, due to Cold War paranoia of Communism in the American democracy. But, with a justice system as flawed as America, who’s to say there’s still a valued democracy to uphold?
Following the September 11th attacks of 2001, the United States has seemingly done away with habeas corpus, a recourse where a person can report unlawful detention to court to determine the legality of the detention, in favour of the Patriot and Homeland Securities Act. The United States acts on fear of crime and the need for control of its citizens, which has led to the criminalisation of its people, especially those of ethnic minorities, thus the justice system in America is not only racist and flawed but failing the very essence of what it was established to be.
The U.K. Justice System
The justice system is a vital element of society to ensure a safe environment for everyone and that disputes are resolved in an orderly way. Where the public, or a section of it, lacks confidence in the system, this may lead to a reduction in the reporting of crime or the provision of assistance to the police and courts, and may militate against the orderly resolution of disputes. The justice system in England and Wales has been seriously under-resourced for far too long and is showing significant signs of strain.
A decade of austerity has drained vital funding from the United Kingdom’s most essential public service. The Ministry of Justice has faced the largest budget cuts of any government department in recent years, forcing the closure of 295 court facilities across England and Wales. Prior to this, since 1949, the UK’s legal system had prided itself on providing state-funded legal representation to those most in need.
Tens of thousands of crimes are not being prosecuted amid warnings of a worsening “crisis” in Britain’s justice system. Almost 92 per cent of offences do not result in perpetrators being charged or summoned to court in England and Wales, with the number of offences taken to court dropping by almost 30,000 in a year. Lawyers, police officers and victim support workers interviewed by The Independent blamed a perfect storm of police cuts, rising crime, fall in confidence and the backlash to an overwhelming amount of collapsed rape cases.
The proportion of offences charged have fallen across all categories – from violence to drugs, murder and theft. The lowest figures remain for sexual offences with a minute percentage (only 1.5%) of recorded rape cases prosecuted. Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labour’s shadow solicitor general, said the statistics made for a “very worrying reading”.
Moreover, there has been a sharp rise in the proportion of cases recorded as “victim does not support action”, increasing to 42 per cent for violence, 35 per cent with rapes and 29 percent of sexual offences. There is raised concern that lengthy delays, poor conviction rates and the prospect of cross-examination were making women drop claims.“I am often hearing from victims of sexual crime that their criminal justice journey is as harrowing as the crime itself. This is just not acceptable. I fear we are letting these victims down badly.” said the victims’ commissioner, Baroness Newlove. Alex Mayes, a policy adviser at Victim Support, said falling prosecution rates could make people “reluctant to report crime if they feel that they are unlikely to achieve justice”.
The CPS is demanding a very high evidential standard. Women are coming in with compelling cases and CPS is dropping it – in this way, the victims are not getting justice at all. The CPS insists it has not changed its code, which states that only cases with a “reasonable prospect of conviction” can progress. But Nazir Afzal, a former chief prosecutor, said the fact conviction rates have risen for serious offences “suggests cherry picking of those cases most likely to lead to conviction, and less risk-taking, which of course leads to the conclusion that they are looking for a higher threshold of evidence”.
Martin Plummer, chair of the Police Federation’s national detectives’ forum, said thousands of detectives’ positions were unfilled. “With violence, sexual assaults and serious crime on the increase, the workload is up but there are fewer detectives to pick up those jobs,” he added. “We need more money for more officers, and to rebuild the foundations of the British police services that have been dismantled by the government’s funding cuts.”
A CPS spokesperson said it only makes charging decisions for the most serious crimes, with 60 per cent left to police which is a major issue.
When the public is explicitly asked about prejudice, they feel that there is greater racial and religious prejudice nowadays, compared with the recent past. In 2001, two in every five people in England and Wales believed there was more racial prejudice in Britain then than there had been five years previously. The view that there was more racial prejudice than five years ago increased to almost half (48%) in 2005, and to more than half (56%) in 2008. This is absolutely notwithstanding given that there has been greater mixing between communities in recent years.
Attitudes towards Muslim people appear to be particularly negative. The British social attitudes survey in 2010 indicates that the general public holds more negative attitudes towards Muslim people than people of any other faith (55% of people said that they would be concerned by the construction of a large mosque in their community, while only 15% would be similarly concerned by a large church).
Research reveals negative perceptions of immigrants and asylum seekers. There is particular hostility towards illegal or undocumented immigrants. The overall level of negative attitudes is increasing with one survey revealing that the proportion of people who strongly agreed or tended to agree that there are ‘too many immigrants’ in the UK increased from 61% in 1997 to 70% in 2009. Gypsies and Travellers are also often the subject of suspicion and disapproval, sometimes exacerbated by inaccurate media reporting.
There is undoubtedly waste in Britain’s archaic justice system. Something needs to change.
A decade of austerity has drained vital funding from the United Kingdom’s most essential public service. The Ministry of Justice has faced the largest budget cuts of any government department in recent years, forcing the closure of 295 court facilities across England and Wales. Prior to this, since 1949, the UK’s legal system had prided itself on providing state-funded legal representation to those most in need.
Tens of thousands of crimes are not being prosecuted amid warnings of a worsening “crisis” in Britain’s justice system. Almost 92 per cent of offences do not result in perpetrators being charged or summoned to court in England and Wales, with the number of offences taken to court dropping by almost 30,000 in a year. Lawyers, police officers and victim support workers interviewed by The Independent blamed a perfect storm of police cuts, rising crime, fall in confidence and the backlash to an overwhelming amount of collapsed rape cases.
The proportion of offences charged have fallen across all categories – from violence to drugs, murder and theft. The lowest figures remain for sexual offences with a minute percentage (only 1.5%) of recorded rape cases prosecuted. Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labour’s shadow solicitor general, said the statistics made for a “very worrying reading”.
Moreover, there has been a sharp rise in the proportion of cases recorded as “victim does not support action”, increasing to 42 per cent for violence, 35 per cent with rapes and 29 percent of sexual offences. There is raised concern that lengthy delays, poor conviction rates and the prospect of cross-examination were making women drop claims.“I am often hearing from victims of sexual crime that their criminal justice journey is as harrowing as the crime itself. This is just not acceptable. I fear we are letting these victims down badly.” said the victims’ commissioner, Baroness Newlove. Alex Mayes, a policy adviser at Victim Support, said falling prosecution rates could make people “reluctant to report crime if they feel that they are unlikely to achieve justice”.
The CPS is demanding a very high evidential standard. Women are coming in with compelling cases and CPS is dropping it – in this way, the victims are not getting justice at all. The CPS insists it has not changed its code, which states that only cases with a “reasonable prospect of conviction” can progress. But Nazir Afzal, a former chief prosecutor, said the fact conviction rates have risen for serious offences “suggests cherry picking of those cases most likely to lead to conviction, and less risk-taking, which of course leads to the conclusion that they are looking for a higher threshold of evidence”.
Martin Plummer, chair of the Police Federation’s national detectives’ forum, said thousands of detectives’ positions were unfilled. “With violence, sexual assaults and serious crime on the increase, the workload is up but there are fewer detectives to pick up those jobs,” he added. “We need more money for more officers, and to rebuild the foundations of the British police services that have been dismantled by the government’s funding cuts.”
A CPS spokesperson said it only makes charging decisions for the most serious crimes, with 60 per cent left to police which is a major issue.
When the public is explicitly asked about prejudice, they feel that there is greater racial and religious prejudice nowadays, compared with the recent past. In 2001, two in every five people in England and Wales believed there was more racial prejudice in Britain then than there had been five years previously. The view that there was more racial prejudice than five years ago increased to almost half (48%) in 2005, and to more than half (56%) in 2008. This is absolutely notwithstanding given that there has been greater mixing between communities in recent years.
Attitudes towards Muslim people appear to be particularly negative. The British social attitudes survey in 2010 indicates that the general public holds more negative attitudes towards Muslim people than people of any other faith (55% of people said that they would be concerned by the construction of a large mosque in their community, while only 15% would be similarly concerned by a large church).
Research reveals negative perceptions of immigrants and asylum seekers. There is particular hostility towards illegal or undocumented immigrants. The overall level of negative attitudes is increasing with one survey revealing that the proportion of people who strongly agreed or tended to agree that there are ‘too many immigrants’ in the UK increased from 61% in 1997 to 70% in 2009. Gypsies and Travellers are also often the subject of suspicion and disapproval, sometimes exacerbated by inaccurate media reporting.
There is undoubtedly waste in Britain’s archaic justice system. Something needs to change.