Prison reform
I have just finished reading Jeffrey Archer prison diaries and in them, he recommends three reforms:
1, During a trial, defendants should be categorised A, B, C or D. This would allow first offenders with no history of violence or drugs to be sent to an open prison.
2, The punishment for smoking marijuana in prison should not be the same as for those prisoners who take heroin.
3, Payment to inmates for all jobs throughout the prison service should be universal and standardised, including payment to those who opt to do education.
He makes the point that if his three recommendations were taken up, his two years in jail would not have been entirely be without purpose. Now that it is election time, have they been taken up and if not, why not?
JOHN CONNOR
David Henderson Court
Dunfermline