The Abolitionist No 14 (1983)
Introduction / Commentary by John Moore
Published in 1983, No. 14 was a bumper edition with 12 extra pages and focused on Gender, Race and Imprisonment. The lead article is a particularly important one, by Jill Box-Grainger with Chris Ryder-Tchaikovsky, the founder of the organisation Women in Prison. Chris sets out the group's short history, they were at a very early stage with no funding (but had applied for funding from the Greater London Council - GLC, which was to be subsequently granted). The central role of ex-prisoners, WIP initial campaigning aims and relations with existing prisoners groups all feature.
The next article is on Racism in Prisons by Paul Gordon. Based on his important book White Law: Racism in the police, courts and prisons published that year. Much of what he describes will be familiar today. The endemic racism of British prisons has a long history. Two things however are striking. Firstly the prominent role Black prisoners (alongside Irish prisoners) played in the demonstrations and other prisoner resistance of the 1970s. Secondly the extent of open organising of the Fascist National Front among prison guards. Gordon details the extent of their racism and their targeting of Black prisoners.
Other articles include Martin Wright, the former Director of the Howard League asking ‘Does our Penal System Make Sense?’. The answer is unsurprising and you can hear almost identical arguments from prison reformers today still perplexed that for prisons the menu is not the meal. The Bristol RAP group reported on how rates of imprisonment varied between different magistrates courts in England and Wales. Margaret Kelthoff highlights how the Criminal Justice Act 1982 provisions for young offenders have an inbuilt prejudice towards the use of custody, fails to address family needs and lacks a focus on prevention. An update on the Inspectorate of Prisons review of prison suicides includes a summary of the evidence submitted by the various groups in the penal lobby. PROP’s (Preservation of the Rights of Prisoners) response is included in full as a supplement to the Prison Briefing detailed below.
No. 14 also includes another important interview by Tony Ward of Peter and Shirley Adams. Peter was the first person sentenced for murder under the 1965 Act that abolished capital punishment. He served 17 years. Today that would not be uncommon, not only for murder but for a whole range of prisoners given indeterminate sentences. So what is sadly really interesting is the prison service’s response to a life sentence with a tariff of 15 years. It was regarded as terrible, removing all hope from Peter and making him a highly dangerous and desperate man. Despite no objective dangerousness, Peter spent a decade in solitary confinement. Shocking.
The edition also included Roy Light writing about the Habitual Drunken Offender and the Criminal Justice System; an introduction to the work of the Creative and Supportive Trust; Martin Wright on a recent court case; book reviews of Pat Carlen’s women’s Imprisonment, Mick Ryan’s The Politics of Penal Reform, NACRO’s report on Homeless Young Offenders and (a particularly harsh one on) Bobby Sands’s One Day in My Life.
PROP’s Prison Briefing highlighted the chaotic and overcrowded state of prisons and the attempts by the prison authorities to divide prisoners. Prisoner’s account of uprisings in Highpoint and Albany, and an update on conflict in Holloway between the Governor and Professional staff. PROP states clearly its position on ‘Maco Men’ and prisoner violence against sex-offenders and raises concerns about the criminally negligent fire precautions in a number of prisons revealed by prison inspection reports. The final article highlights the treatment of Rastafarian prisoners and their struggle to retain their dreadlocks in prison and concludes by stressing the importance of anti-racism to prisoners' struggles.