Perhaps the suggestion that the TV/film sets to be offered for sale in Wimbledon might be used to make a programme about an until recently high profile politician on this morning's Breakfast programme was just a tad unkind.
Really Petroc!
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Originally posted by Flosshilde View Post
Mind you, I think Petroc's expriences re prison were probably rather more frightening than Huhne's will be.
Also, in the UK, it's hard to find out if people are in prison, which is probably a good thing, though people could disappear. The situation is different in the USA, where it seems to be possible to find the names of all the prisoners in each US jail. If you try to find out about the names of people in UK jails, big brother wants to know why you need the information, which is probably fair enough. In the US the availability of information about prisoners has had some nasty consequences, such as the existence of websites which publicise details of previous offenders. Sometimes they write to the previous offender, who may by then be at least an accepted member of society with a reasonable reputation, and threaten to "out" them if they don't pay a fee - say $500 - to not have their details put on the web site. Very dubious and unpleasant.
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Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post...Also, in the UK, it's hard to find out if people are in prison, which is probably a good thing, though people could disappear...
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Originally posted by Dave2002 View PostPossibly, though didn't last as long. I suspect most of us don't know how to deal with people who are sent to prison, if indeed we know any. [...]
On his release - it was a relatively short sentence - the ex-prisoner wrote a long letter to the governor listing the many ways in which he felt he had been unnecessarily humiliated. He received no reply
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amateur51
Originally posted by kernelbogey View PostI once visited someone in prison. I was appalled by the experience. I was made to stand in a line while I and all the other visitors were sniffed by dogs. We met in a 'cafe' where all the prisoners wore hi-Viz vests.
On his release - it was a relatively short sentence - the ex-prisoner wrote a long letter to the governor listing the many ways in which he felt he had been unnecessarily humiliated. He received no reply
A friend who was in Wandsworth for a shortish sentence some years ago formed a mutually useful relationship with Sir David Ramsbotham when he was HMCIP.
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Originally posted by kernelbogey View PostI once visited someone in prison. I was appalled by the experience. I was made to stand in a line while I and all the other visitors were sniffed by dogs. We met in a 'cafe' where all the prisoners wore hi-Viz vests.
On his release - it was a relatively short sentence - the ex-prisoner wrote a long letter to the governor listing the many ways in which he felt he had been unnecessarily humiliated. He received no reply
The most reliable way of stopping this is to have a glass partition, but that's not exactly humane.
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Originally posted by Pabmusic View PostThe philosophy is that the trial is in public, so 'the world' knows that X has been convicted. And that's it. Everything that follows is private. It is sometimes mentioned that a particular person is held in a particular prison, but that is usually only in notorious or celebrity cases, and it doesn't come from the Prison Service - it's usually a relative or friend (or even a rogue Prison Officer) who has told the media. In such circumstances, the prison would not deny it if a direct question were asked.
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Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post...OTOH there is still the possibility of people disappearing without trace...
As a last resort, there's habeas corpus, a writ instructing the Governor to produce a prisoner before the court. I've known it be used, but never because anyone had been lost in the system.
It is not a secretive system, just a confidential one - rather like we have for hospital patients.
[Edit] The more I think of this, the more I realise how unreal the notion is. Receiving a prisoner from court carries with it a huge amount of (national) paperwork and computer entries - as does transferring a prisoner to another prison and (eventually) releasing him or her. It would simply be impossible for someone to disappear without there being a monumental conspiracy between the prison, the Prison Service, the sentencing court, the police force, the CPS and the prisoner's solicitors.Last edited by Pabmusic; 22-03-13, 11:20.
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Originally posted by Pabmusic View PostIn almost all cases, there are family and friends .....
It is not a secretive system, just a confidential one - rather like we have for hospital patients.
Are prisoners required to have contacts in the outside world? There must be some with no outside family or friends.
It boils down to trust, and in most cases the trust is probably justified - which would not be the case in some other parts of the world. However, many of us do not know much about this,
or what procedures are involved.
Lastly, if I ever see our erstwhile workman in the street, what should I do? Say "Hi"? Walk over to the other side? Laugh about how he ripped off the system? Get angry because he ripped the whole of the tax paying society off? Other?
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