Policy & Reform

4WardEverUK

Britain is failing young people [detained] in custody

Domiciliary Prison

source: The Guardian
published: 17 August 2017

The neglect of young people represents state-sanctioned child abuse, argue Deborah Coles, Prof Joe Sim and Prof Steve Tombs from INQUEST.

INQUEST’s work with bereaved families has consistently revealed a litany of systemic neglect, violence, institutional complacency and short-sighted policies which contribute to the deaths and harm of children and young people (Report on Northants children’s prison finds rise in violent incidents, 9 August).

These deaths are the most extreme outcome of a system that fails some of society’s most disadvantaged children and young people.

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4WardEverUK

The continuing collapse of the death penalty (Florida Supreme Court)

kill the death penaltysource: NY Times
published: 26 December 2016

Piece by piece, the death penalty continues to fall apart. Last week, the Florida Supreme Court invalidated between 150 and 200 death sentences — nearly half of all those in the state — because they were imposed under a law the United States Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional in January.

The law, which required judges and not juries to make the factual findings necessary to sentence someone to die, violated the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of a jury trial. “A jury’s mere recommendation is not enough,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for an 8-to-1 majority.

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4WardEverUK

Undercover police officers spy on children, and then demand privacy

Undercover Hidingsource: The Canary
published: 23 March 2016

The Undercover Policing Inquiry, chaired by Lord Justice Pitchford, resumed this week with legal arguments being made by the police which, if implemented, would essentially mean most of the inquiry being held in secret.

Central to their position is a continuation of the policy of neither confirming nor denying (NCND) whether a person was an undercover officer.

However, whilst the lawyers for the police have been arguing that revealing the identities of officers would infringe their Article 8 right to privacy and family life, The Canary can reveal that police officers have been recording details of activists’ young children.

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