Douglas Carswell's Blog

Loopy justice?

It is "loopy to think you can solve crime by locking everyone up", says Ken Clarke.

Not everyone, Ken. Just those who commit serious crime.

Is that really too much to ask? SW1 people might think "too many" criminals are incarcerated. I don't recall hearing folk whose personal property rights have been violated say the same.

The criminal justice system is increasingly run by those who believe its primary purpose is reform and rehabilitation, rather than the administration of justice. Yet their leftist presumptions about the socioeconomic causes of crime mean that in pursuit of the former they miss the later.

The answer? Proper accountability.

Thus, at one end of the criminal justice system, the Coalition is applying local accountability - with directly elected police commissioners. Yet at the other end - offender management - Ken Clarke seems determined that officials should answer only to each other. Some might call that loopy?

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