{"id":3525,"date":"2026-01-20T11:50:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T11:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmuperu.co.uk\/bjcj\/?page_id=3525"},"modified":"2026-02-11T09:41:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T09:41:59","slug":"volume-20-issue-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mmuperu.co.uk\/bjcj\/volume-20-issue-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Volume 20 (Issue 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome<\/h2>\n

\u201cMuddling through\u201d – the 2025<\/strong> Independent Sentencing Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cMuddling through\u201d Charles Lindblom\u2019s (1959) description of policy makers\u2019 approach to complex problems seems an apt description for both the recommendations from the Independent Sentencing Review (2025) and the Government\u2019s response.<\/p>\n

Responding to the pressure on prisons which reached a crisis in summer 2024, Gauke and colleagues\u2019 review proffered their recommendations in nine chapters; Revisiting the statutory purposes of sentencing, Strengthening alternatives to custody in the community, Reducing reliance on custody, Incentivising progression from custody to community, Providing support to\u00a0victims, Targeted approaches to different groups of people with convictions, The role of the Probation Service, The role of\u00a0technology, and Longer-term considerations for a sustainable prison system.<\/p>\n

This special issue co-curated and edited in collaboration with the Criminal Justice Alliance<\/a> invited reactions to or implications of the review from stakeholders across the criminal justice firmament: people with lived experience, practitioners, policy makers, academics, post-graduate students and early career researchers.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you agree, dislike, enthuse, demur, decry, some or all of the recommendations and the Government\u2019s response?\u201d<\/p>\n

These are their views, presented as short articles and blogs, straddling the themes of: women; race, AI, probation, prison and \u201cWhat\u2019s missing from the review\u201d \u2013 omissions and review blind spots.<\/p>\n

Many thanks to all of our contributors for their ruminations, (righteous) indignation and finer grained considerations – than proffered by the Review and Government – all of which offer alternative versions of a more inclusive and progressive justice system than the one that currently befalls us.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to comment on any of these publications, get in touch at: bjcj@mmu.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

Edited by: Kevin Wong, Oliver Glick, Stephanie Wallace, Benjamin Archer and Ben Hall<\/p>\n

Journal Articles<\/strong><\/h2>\n

1) <\/a>Women, Sentencing, and Systematic change: Implementing the review in a gendered CJS<\/a><\/h4>\n

Phoebe Lil and Jessica Trick, Advance\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

2) The introduction of earned release into prisons in England and Wales: A missed opportunity? <\/a><\/h4>\n

Jon Collins, Chief Executive, Prisoners\u2019 Education Trust<\/em><\/p>\n

3) Has Gauke done enough to solve the prison crisis?<\/a><\/h4>\n

Rob Allen, Independent Researcher, and former Director of the International Centre for Prison Studies, King\u2019s College, London<\/em><\/p>\n

4) <\/a>SherlockAI and the Sentencing Review: AI Assisted Radical Help<\/a><\/h4>\n

Dave Nicholson, University of Central Lancashire Centre for Criminal Justice Research and Partnerships and Helen Codd, Professor<\/em>
\nEmerita of Law & Social Justice, University of Lancashire and Director of Seahorse Criminal Justice.<\/em><\/p>\n

5) Once in a generation opportunity – Implementing the independent sentencing review for women<\/a><\/h4>\n

Eliza Ogden Barnsley, Dr Tom McNeil and Lizzie Humphreys, The JABBS Foundation for Women and Girls<\/em><\/p>\n

6) Towards AI?: \u201cImagined futures\u201d For Probation and electronic monitoring in the Independent Sentencing Review<\/a><\/h4>\n

Mike Nellis, Emeritus Professor of Criminal and Community Justice, University of Strathclyde<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Blogs<\/strong><\/h2>\n

1) How we can realise the ambition of the Independent Sentencing Review by cementing the firm foundations needed to deliver transformative justice for women\u00a0<\/a><\/h4>\n

Abbi Ayers,<\/span><\/i>\u00a0Director of Strategic Development, National Women\u2019s Justice Coalition\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2) What must be done to address racial disproportionality experienced by women in the criminal justice system.<\/a><\/h4>\n

Olivia Burgess, Hibiscus Initiatives<\/em><\/p>\n

3) Managing offenders or managing expectations? The promises and pitfalls of \u2018transforming\u2019 community justice through technology\u00a0<\/a><\/h4>\n

Ashna Devaprasad, Cordis Bright\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

4)\u00a0 The Sentencing Review is indicative of failure to tackle institutional racism in the criminal legal system<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Meka Beresford, Head of Policy, Action for Race Equality\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

5) Sentenced to earn: Community payback on the way back as financial payback?<\/a><\/h4>\n

Dave Nicholson, Practitioner Researcher in Penal Mutualism and Director of Nornir Ltd<\/em><\/p>\n

6) Co-producing Solutions to Justice Problems<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Simon Scott, User Voice<\/em><\/p>\n

7) 1001 days in the CJS: Birth Companions\u2019 Response to the Independent Sentencing Review and Sentencing Bill\u00a0<\/a><\/h4>\n

Kirsty Kitchen, Director of The Birth Companions Institute\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

8) The role of Probation in the Third Sector<\/a><\/h4>\n

Holly Blakesley, MA Student, University of Manchester<\/em><\/p>\n

9) Walking the line: maintaining a healthy distinction between state and voluntary sector provision to achieve the aims of the ISR<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n

Robbie Cowbury, Back on Track<\/em><\/p>\n

10) Putting practitioners and evidence at the heart of justice reform The Sentencing Bill: A Start, But Not a Solution<\/a><\/h4>\n

Centre for Justice Innovation<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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