The Abolitionist No 7 (1981)

Summary by John Moore

Published early in 1981 No 7’s focus was on prison medicine.  At the time, the issue of drugs was focused not on prisoners using drugs (although a fair bit of cannabis was smoked inside at the time) but on the use of various varieties of the ‘liquid cosh’ on prisoners. In the lead article Tim Owen explores the official Home Office figures. Other articles looked at issues relating to a discretionary life sentence (anticipating the issues that would emerge with Indeterminate Sentences for Public Protection (IPPs) two decades later); deaths in custody (the cases of Richard Campbell in Ashford and Mr O’Hara due to neglect in Pentonville; as well as an article by Mellissa Benn and Phil Scranton on the role of Coroners Courts); a critical analysis of prison guards’ industrial action by Geoff Coggan from PROP (the National Prisoners Movement); an article by Tony Gifford on Justice after the Revolution in Mozambique; a critical review of a government White Paper on ‘young offenders’ as well as an editorial (reporting a £5,000 grant from the Cadbury Trust), book reviews and letters.

The edition also includes Bristol RAP’s 1979 Ball and Chain Award, won by Dorset’s magistrates who imprisoned 13.9% of convicted people compared to a national average of 8.6%. The lowest imprisonment rate was again achieved by Gwent’s magistrates (4.6%).

Finally, there is a brief summary of the responses to a members’ questionnaire. The issue’s RAP faced will be familiar to contemporary abolitionists and I suspect that many of the responses are still relevant. RAP’s main value was felt its ability to disseminate information of what is actually happening in prison and that its main priority should be to reach a wider audience. In terms of campaigning, the feeling was that the focus should be on single issue campaigns. Interesting there was considerable scepticism about the prospect for total abolition and a lack of clarity about exactly what alternatives (rather than substitutes) would actually look like.