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January 2005 New research claims Prison Service and Parole Board's failure to acknowledge wrongful imprisonment is unjustifiable New research published in The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice criticises the failure of the Prison Service and Parole Board to acknowledge the imprisonment of innocent people, terming it untenable and bordering on the illegal. It is inevitable that innocent people will be victims of wrongful imprisonment. However, the Parole Board will only acknowledge the judgment of the court and refuses to allow for any human fallibility. In his article, Michael Naughton distinguishes two broad categories of wrongful imprisonment. He also demonstrates that life prisoners who maintain that they are innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted are less likely to be considered for parole than offenders who admit their guilt. He substantiates his case by analysing two key sources of information given to life prisoners about the structure of their sentences and the procedures through which they might possibly achieve release from prison. He also undermines the Parole Board's claim that the 'parole deal,' which attempts to make innocent prisoners acknowledge guilt for crimes they did not commit, does not exist. Naughton calls for the possibility of wrongful imprisonment to be acknowledged by the Prison Service and Parole Board and for more adequate and appropriate mechanisms for dealing with prisoners who maintain their innocence to be devised.
· Michael Naughton is a lecturer at the School of Law and Department of Sociology, University of Bristol. · Why the Failure of the Prison Service and the Parole Board to Acknowledge Wrongful Imprisonment is Untenable will be published in the February 2005 issue of The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice. A full copy of the article can be obtained from Rebecca Wray at Blackwell Publishing. Email: Rebecca.Wray@oxon.blackwellpublishing.com · The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice is the pre-eminent journal of criminology in Europe, and is edited by Professor David Wilson of UCE in Birmingham and Dr Tony Fowles of the Lancashire Probation Board.
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