ABSTRACT
Four times before I’ve written books comparable to this one, examining major crime control and sentencing policy issues. All dealt with the United States. Each concluded with a chapter that proposed ways out of problems that the book discussed. That’s a reasonable thing to do in a country containing nearly 60 different criminal law jurisdictions and in which the national government handles only a tiny fraction of criminal cases and 6 per cent of prisoners. A government in one of those jurisdictions, or governments in several, may pay attention and something might happen as a result. In England and Wales, there is only one criminal law jurisdiction and the government in power has just enacted a package of ‘reform’ proposals that were several years in the making.
