The Public Order Bill : A briefing from JUSTICE (May 2022)

source: JUSTICE
published: June 2022

The right to protest is a fundamental cornerstone of any democratic society. Protests can be uncomfortable, particularly for those who disagree with them.

However, as the Government notes, “freedom of expression is a unique and precious liberty on which the UK has historically placed great emphasis in our traditions of Parliamentary privilege, freedom of the press and free speech”. Any unease must therefore be tolerated.

On 15 November 2021, the Government introduced over 18 pages of late-stage amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, for which JUSTICE also prepared briefings.

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19 May 202222 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Slain North Texas toddler’s journey for justice continues

source: PR Newswire
published: 16 May 2022

The parents of Amari Boone continue to seek justice for their son, a North Texas toddler who was killed in April 2020 while under the watch of his temporary foster care placement.

The amended lawsuit, filed in May during National Foster Care Month, names Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is responsible for the state’s foster care system as the head of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), as a defendant. The suit also cites new details of how the private foster care organization our community. our kids. and the state of Texas failed Amari.

7 April 202222 December 2022 4WardEverUK

No births behind bars: The scandal of imprisoning pregnant women

source: Counterfire
published: 31 March 2022

Over the past three years, two babies born to women serving custodial sentences in prison have died. In 2019, a woman gave birth alone in a prison cell at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, Europe’s largest women’s prison, without access to a midwife or any maternity care.

The baby was born in the early hours of the morning but by the time prison staff visited the woman’s cell the baby was unresponsive. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman initially refused to investigate, claiming that such an investigation was not within their remit. Nine months later, another baby was stillborn at HMP Styal, to a woman who was unaware she was pregnant.

Questions are being raised once again over why pregnant women are incarcerated in the first place. Women make up about 5% of the prison population, with the vast majority – some 82% of the 7,745 women incarcerated in 2018 – sentenced for petty crimes and non-violent offences such as shoplifting.

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