The European Court of Human Rights has yet again ruled that the UK violated prisoners' rights by denying them the right to vote. Still, the Coalition government resists.
The UK government must act swiftly to reverse a steep and dangerous decline.
Strasbourg has ruled indeterminate sentences unlawful. Thousands of prisoners, having served their tariff, remain stuck in prison with no prospect of release, not for what they have done but for what they might do in the future.
The punitive language of retribution ignores common sense, justice and compelling evidence of what works, and the new language of the market degrades our penal system, demeaning the tens of thousands of people within its walls.