January 03, 2009
Lunacy in the U.K.
If you think American liberals are soft on crime, wait until you see what happens when the self-esteem movement joins forces with politically correct moonbats to prove that you ain't seen nothing yet.
Check out the latest madness from what once was Great Britain, courtesy of The Telegraph.
Prisons minister David Hanson revealed the Ministry of Justice stance in a letter to an inmate in HMP Wakefield, in which he said: "Prison staff are expected to treat prisoners with dignity and respect and for this reason the term 'prisoner' should be used in preference to the term 'inmate'."
He went on to say the term "offender" was not inappropriate.
[...]
A Prison Service spokesman said: "The term prisoner, rather than inmate, has been preferred for a number of years as it is more accurate and specific to those held in prison. The term 'inmate' can refer to anyone held in any type of institution."
Earlier this year prison inspectors at Bullingdon jail in Oxfordshire, said prisoners should be addressed by their first names, given free condoms and be served evening meals later time to stop them feeling hungry in the night.
In 2006, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers, criticised jail staff for calling prisoners "cons".
All this is happening, mind you, in a nation where self-defense is not a right, but a guarantee of a quick trip to prison if you happen to injure your attacker.
On the bright side, when you get there, at least you'll have free condoms, late meals, and a first-name relationship with your jailer.
Posted by Mike Lief at January 3, 2009 12:17 PM
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Comments
It's quite apparent from your comments, that you have little or no experience of the prison system in the United Kingdom. Those who do have firsthand experience.... I can assure you do not necessarily have such, because of any genuine access to the justice system. Much is written in the press about the so called "cushy life" of prisoners in UK jails. I can assure you that that is very far from the true picture.
"First name relationships with your jailers"... is a quite laughable concept. I would suggest for it however....an outrageously bullying regime, which serves very little useful purpose other than to satisfy the somewhat warped psychological needs of the overwhelming majority of" prison officers".
I further suggest that were anybody to undertake a serious investigation of the role of prison officers... including the psychological profiling of those who are drawn to work in the prison service, the results would be very interesting indeed. I can assure you, there is very little " enlightenment" in 21st century British prisons.
Although physical bullying by prison officers is officially "not tolerated", it has been replaced by a far more sinister form of bullying. Psychological bullying is an everyday fact of life, which is not only tolerated, but condoned, and even encouraged by the very systems which are put in place.
One could open a much wider debate, which I am very happy to do, regarding how many people who are committed to the prisons, should actually be there. There are a whole raft of reasons why a very large proportion of them should not. These include failings of the legal justice system; lack of adequate professional legal representation in court; mental health issues; and so on, and so on, and so on!
There are a great many "paper policies" within the prison, and British legal justice system, which have been put there by the legislature in order to give the appearance of a more just and humanitarian justice system. Mission statements, and policies do not mean a thing, simply because they exist. To write them large on billboards at the entrance to, and throughout the whole prison estate, only serves to make the whole system more disreputable than it previously was.
There is at least something innately honest about custodial systems across the world which do not profess, or pretend to be "enlightened". What is however quite despicable about 21st century British legal justice, is that it quite cynically purports to be that which it is not, and in all likelihood will not ever be!
Posted by: Lost Cause Britain at January 4, 2009 03:37 AM