Early release changes will 'jeopardise public safety', experts warn

Government proposals to reform the system for early release of prisoners are likely to “jeopardise both public safety and reintegration”, criminal justice experts have warned.
 
The Prisoners (Control of Release) (Scotland) Bill, a final vote on which will be taken tomorrow, has changed “almost beyond recognition” since being introduced at Holyrood and fails to take account of accepted evidence, according to the group.
 
Ministers initially sought to end automatic early release for sex offenders sentenced to four years or more as well as serious offenders sentenced to over 10 years.
 
However, the bill was rewritten at Stage 2 to cover all prisoners serving more than four years with part of the revision involving setting a ‘mandatory control period’ upon release of up to six months.
 
In a briefing to be sent to MSPs today, several groups including Howard League Scotland, Apex Scotland and the Scottish Association of Social Workers, as well as leading academics claim the bill has not been properly scrutinised.
 
A six-month supervision period is “inadequate as well as "arbitrary and not based on empirical evidence", they argue.
 
Potential for legal challenge under the European Convention on Human Rights will also be heightened should prisoners deem that they are “subject to arbitrary detention without preparation for release”.   
 
“It will not end automatic early release, it will not reduce reoffending and it will not improve public safety in the longer term; indeed it is likely to jeopardise both public safety and reintegration,” says the briefing.
 
“Furthermore, the Bill misses the opportunity to better clarify sentencing and release policy. It may well be possible to combine the virtues of public safety with clarity in sentencing, but unfortunately this Bill appears to achieve neither.”
 
A Scottish government spokesman said: "The Scottish government has listened and responded to views during the passage of the bill.
 
"The Prisoners (Control of Release) (Scotland) Bill will, if approved by parliament, end automatic early release for all long-term prisoners with an extended sentence, and restrict automatic early release to the last six months of sentence for other long-term prisoners.
 
"This will help protect the public while ensuring a period of supervision in the community for all long-term prisoners leaving custody.
 
"The aims of the bill are in line with the recommendations of the Scottish Prisons Commission (2008), to 'target the use of prison where it can be most effective - in punishing serious crime and protecting the public'."
 
Signatures to the briefing are: Dr Monica Barry, Principal Research Fellow, University of Strathclydel; Professor Lesley McAra, Chair of Penology, University of Edinburgh; Professor Fergus McNeill, Professor of Criminology and Social Work, University of Glasgow; Professor Cyrus Tata, Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of Strathclyde; Apex Scotland; Circle Scotland; Howard League Scotland; Positive Prison? Positive Futures; Scottish Association of Social Workers; Social Work Scotland; Women for Independence, Justice for Women Group.