Recent events, such as the John Worboys case, have undermined confidence in the parole system and reopened longstanding debates over the confused normative basis of prisoner release policy and practice. Under Boris Johnson’s premiership, the Ministry of Justice have announced a review of the parole system and a series of measures intended to restrict the availability of parole for those serving custodial sentences for violent or sexual offences. In this seminar, Nicky Padfield and Thomas Guiney will discuss the changing face of prison release (and recall) in England and Wales and pose a series of fundamental questions about the implications of the process for the fairness, legitimacy and effectiveness of the penal system. At a time when prison release has become increasingly politicised, they also ask what meaningful role academic research has to play in shaping a fast-moving reform agenda.
Professor Nicola Padfield, of the Faculty of Law in the University of Cambridge, has had a long interest in this subject, having first carried out research with Professor Alison Liebling and Helen Arnold in 1999 into the early days of oral hearings of the Parole Board. She has continued with further research into prisoners' perceptions of recall, and into Parole Board decision-making.
Dr Thomas Guiney is a Lecturer in Criminology at Oxford Brookes University. His research interests include parole, penal policy and the history of criminal justice in England and Wales. His first monograph 'Getting Out' offers the first systematic account of the evolution of early release as a public policy concern in England and Wales since 1960.
Please note: if you plan to attend this event you will need to register using this link; https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/parole-changes-and-challenges-tickets-92939429335
