Prison Reform

4WardEver UK

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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4WardEver UK

Manus Island detention centre closing down with refugees still inside

Barbed Wire Prison

source: The Guardian
published: 5 July 2017

The Manus Island detention centre is being shut down around refugees and asylum seekers while they are still living in it.

Refugees inside the centre reported on Wednesday that immigration officials have said they will cut the power from the Charlie compound on Friday, forcing out refugees still living there.

The entire Manus camp is being progressively shut down, with the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments insisting it will be closed and emptied by 31 October.

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4WardEver UK

The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down death penalty, June 29, 1972

The US Supreme Court

source: Politico
published: 26 June 2017

On this day in 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court instituted what became a four-year ban on the imposition of capital punishment in the United States.

In Furman v. Georgia, the court ruled 5 to 4 that capital punishment, as it was then being levied on both the state and federal levels, violated the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

A narrow majority of the justices held that the death penalty constituted “cruel and unusual punishment,” basing their finding primarily on the “arbitrary and capricious ways” it was being administered, particularly regarding race.

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