Stephen Shaw

Stephen Shaw, Prisons and Probation Ombudsman

About Talking Justice
When it comes to justice, there is far more that unites people than divides them.

This has been our experience in nearly 30 years of working towards a more humane and effective penal system. Behind the lurid headlines, one of the things often hidden from public view is how much some of the most influential people in the system agree on the solutions to crime.

Over the past few months the Prison Reform Trust has been working on an exciting new initiative to demonstrate just how much consensus there is between people in the criminal justice system and those concerned with reform. Talking Justice will kickstart a much-needed, informed discussion about justice reform in 2010 and beyond.
The initiative will launch in May after the election, when people and politicians are listening, and unfold over the course of the year. Ahead of the official launch we will be publishing brief films of leading figures working at the heart of the criminal justice system.

Watch Paul Tidball [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYJ8a652gpA ], Prison Governors' Association President, Prison and Probation Ombudsman Stephen Shaw [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbwi6z4hb3c ] and Gillian Guy [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10OTa6O9yPY ], Chief Executive of Victim Support reflect, as they move to new roles, the place of prison in an effective justice system.

In our last newsletter we published films of politicians from the three main political parties talking about the criminal justice system. With contributions from the Minister for Prisons, Maria Eagle [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beEEIRgQOVw ], the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Grieve [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJKz4FQGAWY ], the Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G455Wb8MYQ ], and the Telegraph columnist Mary Riddell [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gsUpaFPW0g ], the film Talking Justice: Talking Sense shows how much agreement there is on the use of imprisonment as a sanction of last resort and the scope of community solutions to crime. Once the election is called we risk temporarily losing sight of this perspective.

Coming up in May the Prison Reform Trust will launch a collection of one minute films of 30 people at the heart of the justice system Talking Justice.
Watch the Talking Justice trailer here [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7fvVz-9MPQ ]

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• stephen shaw
• prisons
• probation
• ombudsman
• crime