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Thursday 26 April 2012

Jameson, independent consultant to the UK legal system and teacherWhy we need to know about dyslexia:

Research on offenders shows that around 20% have a hidden disability such as dyslexia

People with dyslexia (and related conditions) fare badly in the criminaljustice system for dyslexia-related reasons: Dyslexic fare very badly in the judicial system. Their hesitancy isinterpreted as guilt. They come across as evasive when they miss thepoint of the question, creating difficulties in court, but also at the initialcontact with police.3. Dyslexia is a huge barrier to justice. inconsistencies imply ‘untruthfulness’ and are interpreted as guilt failure to grasp the import of questions seems ‘evasive’

hesitancy suggests you are ‘unsure about your evidence’ a reaction to stress can be misinterpreted as ‘aggression’Breakdown of coping strategies gives an impression of completeincompetence

There are  Ipp's  prisoners with dyslexia  not allowed on the  courses that is required  as  as part of there sentance plan for release, because they have a hidden disability!!!!!


Petition http://www.ippprisonerscampaign.com/petition.htm





















Tuesday 17 April 2012

  • The petition of IPP Prisoners campaign, their members and supporters hereby declare that we are petitioning the house following the amendments introduced in the current Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders bill (LASPO)

    To The House of Commons
    Petition http://www.ippprisonerscampaign.com/petition.htm
    The petition of IPP Prisoners campaign, their members and supporters hereby declare that we are petitioning the house following the amendments introduced in the current Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders bill (LASPO) which lead to the abolition of the problematic and ill thought out Indeterminate Sentence for Public Protection (IPP). In 2007 the green paper ‘Prisons with a purpose’ mentioned that ‘the prison service should try and deal with prisoners before the end of their minimum tariff’ and the fact that many Ipp prisoners can neither get onto the requisite course in their current prison nor be moved to another prison where a particular course, deemed necessary for the prisoner to show that they are no longer a danger to the public, is available’.  If they are able to obtain a place on a course they have often had to first be placed on an extensive waiting list. Currently these courses are a requirement for them to demonstrate that they have lowered their risk (1). They also continually face many other problems which include parole board delays and lack of continuity in offender management. The Justice Secretary showed that on 8th October 2007 the amount of post tariff IPP prisoners was approximately 400 and that this was 0.5% of the current prison population (1).Recent figures from The Ministry of Justice however show that as of 31st December 2011 there were 6162 IPP prisoners of which 3489 had passed their tariff thus those over tariff made up 4.049% of the then current prison population, this opposed to the previous 0.5% is an increase of over 800%. These figures demonstrate that although the plight IPP prisoners faced was evident no firm measures had been implemented and without these issues addressed imminently the problem will just continue to escalate.

    Due to this ongoing plight IPP Prisoners face, we the petitioners request that the House of Commons release on license all those currently serving an IPP sentence on or at tariff expiry, unless it can be definitively proven that the prisoner is considered a high risk to the public. For those that are considered such a said risk then plans be put in place and implemented allowing them the opportunity to lower their risk in a satisfactory manner.

    By signing this petition the petitioners are voluntarily offering their full support to the requests made within this petition.

    Please Return Completed Petitions to Amanda Goodall, IPP Prisoners Campaign, 24 Chevallier Street, Ipswich, IP1 2PD
    Due to this ongoing plight IPP Prisoners face, we the petitioners request that the House of Commons release on license all those currently serving an IPP sentence on or at tariff expiry, unless it can be definitively proven that the prisoner is considered a high risk to the public. For those that are considered such a said risk then plans be put in place and implemented allowing them the opportunity to lower their risk in a satisfactory manner.

    By signing this petition the petitioners are voluntarily offering their full support to the requests made within this petition.

    Petition http://www.ippprisonerscampaign.com/petition.htm

    Further reading on the IPP at-38degrees.uservoice.com  In  search engine add ipp prisoners. 

Monday 16 April 2012

It took a court judgment to demonstrate to ministers the fault in their Alice in Wonderland logic.What is IPP?

The High Court has rightly held that it is illegal to detain people until they can prove that they are safe but yet deny them the means to do so. The only wonder is that it took a court judgment to demonstrate to ministers the fault in their Alice in Wonderland logic. It is a life sentence in all but name. The only real difference is that it can be given for far less serious offences. The Prison Reform Trust has come across people given tariffs for their sentence of just 18 weeks. The tariff, as in the life sentence, is the minimum time that must be served. It represents the retribution or punishment for the offence. But even after the tariff, the person remains in prison until they have done the courses necessary to demonstrate they are ready for release. But because of grotesque prison over-crowding and the low priority given to ‘education’ (including the courses required to qualify for release from an IPP) by the prison authorities, it is often simply impossible for an IPP prisoner to undergo the course required. Unless he has done the course, the parole board won’t consider him for release, even though he has served his tariff. So he has undergone the punishment imposed by the judge, but can’t be released because he can’t do the course that alone will satisfy the parole board that he is unlikely to commit a further offence.

What is IPP? - IPP stands for Indeterminate sentence for Public Protection - What this actually means is if you were to go to court and receive a 2 year sentence, 3 years, 4 years, etc..... with IPP you could be imprisoned for up to 99 years.

At the moment it is still up to the prisoner to prove that they are safe for release which is what makes it impossible as you cannot prove you are safe to release as you are in prison.

It is then up to a parole board to decide if they feel you are ready to be released back in to society, so prisoners and their families do not know IF or WHEN they will EVER be released.

You may be thinking right now that "well, if they have committed murder or something along those lines then they deserve it" - But they have NOT committed murder, if you were sentenced for murder you would receive a determinate sentence of approx 25 years or more - but you would know when you were due to be released and have something to work towards, in retrospect these 3,200 prisoners left in limbo (Guantanimo Bay) would have actually been released by now had they committed a manslaughter or murder.
IPP Prisoners are literally being left in limbo. A lot of IPP prisoners do not have any family support and feel that there is no hope left for them and it is because of this that approx every 2 weeks a suicide is reported in prison.

Where has it all gone wrong? There are currently around 3,200 prisoners that are still incarcerated beyond their tariff - Prisoners that received 2 years that were supposed to be released 9 years ago are actually still serving that sentence because there is no effective system in place that works. Ken Clarke last year abolished IPP and stated that it is inhumane - so now we need to move forward and deal with the IPPs that were already serving before it was abolished last year.
This is why the UK prisons are overcrowded and it's costing Tax-payers more and more every year, maybe this is one of the many causes as to why the United Kingdom has hit a debt of £3,000,000,000,000 -

It actually costs £41,000 per year per prisoner in the UK - Now, multiply that by 3,200 - the result of keeping just these 3,200 prisoners in past their tariff is costing us all £131,200,000 every year, that's without the cost of the rest.

Now, the old saying goes - If you can't do the time, don't do the crime - But, how can a prisoner serve their time if they do not know how much time they have to do?Ipp Prisoners Familys Campaign.
For thousands of IPP prisoners who are long past the tariff laid down by the courts when they were sentenced, this comes as worrying news indeed. To their families, it is nothing short of devastation.
The families and children of those incarcerated in an unjust and unfair penal system suffer as their loved ones remain in custody when they should have been given the chance of release long ago.Our 1 aim is to get a fixed determinate sentence for IPP prisoners.

Lobbying for change The Court of Appeal has ruled that it's unlawful for someone given an "indeterminate sentence for public protection" (IPP) to be kept in prison beyond his 'tariff' (the period set by the sentencing judge as the minimum required for punishment, release thereafter being permitted on condition that the offender satisfies the parole board that he won't reoffend) if he hasn't been able to take one of the prison courses whose completion is a condition of release. It
seems that a thousand or more prisoners serving IPPs are in this Kafkaesque, nightmare logical trap. It is a life sentence in all but name. The only real difference is that it can be given for far less serious offences. But even after the tariff, the person remains in prison until they have done the courses necessary to demonstrate they are ready for release. He would only be released if he "admitted guilt" Mr. Blunt commented that the previous Government had to reform the IPP arrangements in 2008, and that the current Government had inherited ‘a very serious problem’ with IPP prisoners. He said, ‘we have 6,000 IPP prisoners, well over 2,500 of whom have exceeded their tariff point. Many cannot get on courses because our prisons are wholly overcrowded and (they are) unable to address offending behaviour. For example if you had a prison term of 3years you may have five offending courses to finish as part of your sentence plan before you can be released. 18 month waiting list to do 1 course and that’s if they have the course at all at that prison .So instead of doing 3 years it may be 5 years or more until you have finished the courses. It seems you have to be smart to badger the prison to get on these courses..

Target: LASPO, The House ofLords, The Government, Ken Clarke, The Queen
Sponsored by: Lorna Elliott -Solicitor, IPP Prisoners Familys Campaign & Emmersons Solicitors
IPP is inhumane, against humanrights and breaches Human Rights Act 1998 Article 3 Prohibition of Torture - Noone shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment orpunishmentIPP stands for Indeterminate sentence for Public Protection - What thisactually means is if you were to go to court and receive a 2 year sentence, 3years, 4 years, etc..... with IPP you could be imprisoned for up to 99 years.Atthe moment it is still up to the prisoner to prove that they are safe forrelease which is what makes it impossible as you cannot prove you are safe torelease as you are in prison.It is then up to a parole board to decide if theyfeel you are ready to be released back in to society, so prisoners and theirfamilies do not know IF or WHEN they will EVER be released, this in itself ismental TORTURE, DEGRADING & INHUMANE.There are currently over 3,200prisoners that are over their tariff which is costing £41,000 each year foreach prisoner to remain in prison. For 3,200 prisoners this amounts to£131,200,000 each year and in total there are 88,000 prisoners in prison inthe UK.The main point of our campaign is not to argue whether or not theprisoners deserved to go to prison - The fact of the matter is that even if itmeans that prisoners are given longer sentences - be it 2 years, 3 years, 5years, 10 years, or even 25 years - then every human on this planet deserves toknow when they will be home with their children and/or families again, theydeserve to know what time they have to serve, change the existing IPP sentencesover to determinate sentences. less

IPP is inhumane, against humanrights and breaches Human Rights Act 1998 Article 3 Prohibition of Torture - Noone shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment orpunishmentIPP stands for Indeterminate sentence for Public Protection - What thisactually means is if you were to go to court and receive a 2 year sentence, 3years, 4 years, etc..... with IPP you could be imprisoned for up to 99 years.At the moment it is still up to the prisoner to prove that they are safe forrelease which is what makes it impossible as you cannot prove you are safe torelease as you are in prison. It is then up to a parole board to decide if theyfeel you are ready to be released back in to society, so prisoners and theirfamilies do not know IF or WHEN they will EVER be released, this in itself ismental TORTURE, DEGRADING & INHUMANE. There are currently over 3,200prisoners that are over their tariff which is costing £41,000 each year foreach prisoner to remain in prison. to remain in prison. For 3,200 prisonersthis amounts to £131,200,000 each year and in total there are 88,000 prisonersin prison in the UK. The main point of our campaign is not to argue whether ornot the prisoners deserved to go to prison - The fact of the matter is thateven if it means that prisoners are given longer sentences - be it 2 years, 3years, 5 years, 10 years, or even 25 years - then every human on this planetdeserves to know when they will be home with their children and/or familiesagain, they deserve to know what time they have to serve, change the existingIPP sentences over to determinate sentences.

Petition http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Determinate-Sentences-for-IPP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHC9wAOSjW0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHC9wAOSjW0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I2oTiq_msk&feature=relmfu
https://www.facebook.com/kgleeson3/posts/155546557905824?comment_id=288560&ref=notif&notif_t=like

Friday 6 April 2012

IPP Prisoners Familys Campaign: The Opian site recently received more reports that...

IPP Prisoners Familys Campaign: The Opian site recently received more reports that...: Indeterminate Sentence for Public Protection) are unable to achieve their release because the Prison Service is still failing to provide t...

The Opian site recently received more reports that prisoners subject to an IPP sentence

Indeterminate Sentence for Public Protection) are unable to achieve their release because the Prison Service is still failing to provide the necessary number of offending behaviour courses. IPP prisoners must complete specified courses if they are to have any hope of ever being released.

Just after the 2010 general election, prisons minister, Crispin blunt said, ‘We have 6,000 IPP prisoners, well over 2,500 of whom have exceeded their tariff point. Many cannot get on courses because our prisons are wholly overcrowded and (they are) unable to address offending behaviour. That is not a defensible position.

Two years on, the current situation appears to be even worse than it was before. With average prison numbers at an all time high, IPP prisoners are often sent to inappropriate establishments where the necessary courses are not available or are told that they will be ‘made a priority’ for their particular course, only to later discover that they have not actually been included on the list at all.

There have even been occasions where a prisoner has sent to a particular prison for the express purpose of completing a specified offending behaviour program and is then transferred to another establishment, usually without a reason being given, shortly before the course begins. He then often discovers that the course is unavailable in his new establishment.

In any of the above circumstances, it can be another two or three years before another place on the appropriate course becomes available. That is another two or three years unnecessarily spent in jail.

Reliable reports that where a prisoner’s case has been the subject of high profile media attention, the probation and prison services then insist that he undertakes additional and often unnecessary courses before they will even consider recommending his release. The end result is that an IPP prisoner who has a ‘tariff’ (the minimum time to be served) of 3 years may very well find himself serving nearer 10 years or longer behind bars for no good reason.

The government has claimed that it wishes to reform the British criminal justice system. It has announced that it will in fact scrap IPP sentences altogether and replace them with long, determinate sentences.

It has consulted, reviewed, consulted again and drawn up new legislation. It has done all this and yet there are still over 6,500 IPP prisoners, 3,000 of which are well past their tariff and are still in jail because they are forced to undertake courses that are not being provided.

The worst thing of all is that nobody can actually provide independent evidence to show that these courses work. Any ‘evidence’ has either been produced by the government itself or by sources in other jurisdictions – notably the US – where the culture, psychology and makeup of individuals is completely different to Britain anyway.

It is the fact that many of the most contentious courses, especially the so-called Sex offender Treatment Programme, are not used so much as a means of rehabilitation but rather as a method of risk assessment. A good idea one may think, except that reliable sources inside the prison system have made it clear that if the ‘assessment’ is positive and indicates that ‘no further work is necessary’, this positive assessment will be ignored. As a result, additional courses in prison and upon eventual release are always specified as part of release criteria.

This is a way of ensuring that the massive numbers of prison staff, probation staff and police officers involved in ‘protecting’ the public can be maintained and their employment guaranteed.

Some may find that a cynical view but, in truth, It would be a brave politician indeed who stood up and expressed the view that millions of pounds paid by taxpayers every year are being wasted on meaningless courses, the highly secretive and unaccountable MAPPA system and other procedures  that cannot be proven to actually improve public protection at all.

As all the above measures are shrouded in secrecy, it is impossible to verify whether the methods employed by the authorities in order to ‘protect the public’, ‘assess risk of reoffending’ and to ‘safeguard children’ are effective or not. We are all simply supposed to take the word of those who themselves benefit greatly from being involved in the running of the system.

The Coalition has pronounced that the new measures relating to IPP sentences – that they will be replaced with long, determinate sentences – will not apply to existing IPP prisoners. Thus, 6,500 prisoners will be unaffected by the ‘reforms’ to the system and will remain in jail until they can – with great difficulty – somehow ‘prove’ that they are no longer a risk to the public.

Meanwhile, as the legislation containing the reforms, the ‘Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill’  has again been defeated in the House of Lords, this time over some of the cuts to Legal Aid, the horse-trading will inevitably begin in order that the government can get the new law on to the Statute Book by the time of the Summer Recess.

This gives those who are against IPP reforms – and there are significant numbers of them – the opportunity to derail the government’s plan to scrap IPPs and also distracts attention away from the very real problem of what to do about those who are already serving the sentence that was described by the Justice Secretary, Ken Clarke as being “…a stain on British Justice.”

As stain on ‘British Justice’ it may very well be but, if the government does not either provide more courses or alternatively change the criteria for release, many thousands of IPP prisoners will still be being held unjustly behind bars next year, the year after and for the foreseeable future.

In fact, if the term ‘British Justice’ is to retain any sense of its original meaning at all,  believes that whatever the cost, embarrassment or criticism that may come the government’s way, the increasingly out of touch David Cameron and his Cabinet must realistically address the issue of those IPP prisoners who are over-tariff and who are still in prison.

Almost every sensible and reasonable person, lawyer and judge (notably not policeman, prison officer or probation officer) believes that the IPP sentence is and always has been an unmitigated disaster. It is a politically driven sentence introduced for purely political reasons by David Blunkett in order to suck-up to the Sun, News of the World and child protection charities.

According to the original estimates given when IPP sentences were introduced, there should today be about 900 IPP prisoners. Instead, there are 6,500 and the figure is still rising. How much more of a disaster does the government want? What real action is being taken to solve the problem?

believes, sadly, that actually the government doesn’t care about the injustice that continues to take place. What it does care about however is the negative reporting that may be directed towards it should real solutions be put in place.

The sad truth is that, as previously stated, the IPP sentence is and always has been a ‘political’ sentence. It looks very much as if it is destined to remain as such and that makes it very difficult, if not impossible for the government to fix the problem without being accused of ‘going soft’ on crime, something that David Cameron is simply not prepared to do, now or ever.

March 29, 2012
Raymond Peytors
http://www.theopinionsite.org/ipp-prisoners-in-jail-longer-as-hmp-fails-to-provide-courses
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