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Articles by Rona Epstein
The Vagrancy Act has been repealed, but…
Burnham declared his intention to end homelessness on first taking office: a hopeful sign and a laudable aim. The previous government repealed the Vagrancy Act on 29 June 2026, bringing an end to nearly two centuries of legislation that has criminalised rough sleeping and begging. The Vagrancy Act was introduced in 1824, in response to rising homelessness following the return of many wounded and homeless soldiers at the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
Why are we sending people to prison for being homeless?
Many have welcomed the Government’s announcement that it will decriminalise rough sleeping. This is a long overdue and very welcome reform. However, punishment for being homeless, using Anti-Social Behaviour Injunctions (ASBI) is set to continue and to be widened with new Respect Orders introduced in the Crime and Policing Bill.
Why are we sending people to prison for being homeless?
Many have welcomed the Government’s announcement that it will decriminalise rough sleeping. This is a long overdue and very welcome reform. However, punishment for being homeless, using Anti-Social Behaviour Injunctions (ASBI) is set to continue and to be widened with new Respect Orders introduced in the Crime and Policing Bill.
‘We are the voice of prisoners’ families - we are here to talk to anyone who wants to talk to us’
On December 5, 2023, an audience gathered for a Quaker outreach event at Wandsworth meeting house. We were to hear from the then Quaker prison chaplain, Liz Bridge about her work in the prison. No one was prepared for what happened that night. Liz Bridge’s talk was electrifying, not quite believable. How could it be that the shocking conditions and misery Liz was describing were happening right on our doorstep? Why were others who must surely have known what was going on, not speaking out?
Every four days someone takes their own life in a UK prison
In our report Voices From The Inside, to be published on 14 November 2024, we have testimony of life inside UK prisons given by current and former prisoners and by friends and relatives of prisoners. Amongst our evidence is that of Zack Griffiths who was interviewed by a BBC radio journalist while taking part in a protest outside HMP Parc. This prison was then in the news because nine of its prisoners had died during the ten weeks between February and May 2024.
Imprisonment for breach of injunctions: what is happening in the civil courts?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 July 2024 Caroline Hunter [Opens in a new window] , Jed Meers [Opens in a new window] Show author details Keywords Injunctionscivil courtsimprisonment Type Research Article Information Legal Studies , First View , pp.
Four lives, four deaths. Neglect in our prisons
In fact, health care provision in secure environments is supposed to be of an ‘equivalent’ standard to that provided in the wider community. So let us consider four men and their deaths. I have written before about Floyd Carruthers. There should have been anger and demand for change after he died in hospital having been found collapsed in his prison cell. In fact, there was silence.
Sentencing guidelines, parents, and pregnant women
Rosie, Wayne, and Maya – true stories and why they matter. I would like to give some information to readers about the Sentencing Guidelines and how they relate to pregnant women, to children, and to dependent relatives. I thought giving some actual cases, with names changed, would help. First Rosie. In 2011 Rosie made a terrible mistake. She and her friends had been drinking all evening and when the booze ran out, they went to get more. Rosie drove.
Remand Decision-Making: what is going wrong?
In June 2022 the Justice Gap published an article on the increasing number of women imprisoned on remand and the concerns this raises. We now look in more detail at at the recently published report by the legal charity JUSTICE on decision-making on remand in custody. A significant part of the current prison capacity crisis is the growing remand population. The September 2023 remand population figure of over 16,000 is 12% higher than in September 2022 and the highest September figure in fifty years.
Why it makes no sense to increase prison places for women
Three things happened in February – an update on the Female Offender Strategy, planned new prison cells for women were announced, and HMP Inspectorate published a damning report on women’s prison HMP Eastwood. This is the text of a speech given by Rona Epstein to the Public Policy Exchange today The government recently published its Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan 2022-2025. It states: ‘Women in contact with the criminal justice system are amongst the most vulnerable in society.
Anti-Social Behaviour Law: punishing the poor and vulnerable?
Sanctions imposed for breach of Anti-Social Behaviour Injunctions (ASBIs) raise profound issues of social justice and abuse of power. Criminal Behaviour Orders were introduced in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to replace the Anti-Social Behaviour Order regime, together with a civil injunction to prevent nuisance and annoyance (IPNA). Local councils, the police or any social landlord can apply for an IPNA to stop anti-social behaviour.
Passing of a true warrior
Former Prisons Inspector died last month after a fall Inside Time was saddened to hear of the passing of former Prisons Inspector David Ramsbotham last month at the age of 88. A formidable character who was forceful and thorough during his time heading up the Prisons Inspectorate, he had no fear of exposing the shortfalls of the prison system in England and Wales.
Rosie and Wayne
Two true stories and why they matter Rosie made a terrible mistake when she was 22. It was one night in 2011. She and her friends had been drinking all evening. When the booze ran out, they went to get more. Rosie drove. Although she was driving fast down a busy road, the two men in the back told her to go even faster. The woman in the front said: “Slow down, this is dangerous”. Sadly, Rosie didn’t listen. Instead, she overtook the car in front and had a head-on crash with a bus coming the other way.
Hope springs
Seeding Hope is an exciting new social enterprise established to grow trees within prisons, at the same time growing people and helping generate hope Seeding hope has a unique combination of elements, delivering City & Guilds horticultural qualifications to help increase employability upon release and providing a wrap-around set of therapies that, together, help “turbocharge” individual capacities to leave the past behind and improve their own mental health.
We should stop sending pregnant women to prison
Together with Maria Garcia De Frutos, Midwifery Lecturer, City University of London, we began to look for answers to that question. Our research began with the death of a baby in a prison cell in Surrey. The mother – a vulnerable 18-year-old woman with a background in care – was eight months pregnant and ill when she was remanded in custody to await trial. It was her first time in prison. While in prison, she gave birth, alone, in her cell. The baby died.
No new prisons for women!
In 2012 I (Rona) published research on the rights of the child when mothers are sentenced in the UK criminal courts. In this research I pointed out that under the Human Rights Act the rights of the child to a private life - which must include the right to the care of her/his parent - were engaged when a parent with care is sentenced. I called for consideration of these rights during the sentencing process to become statutory law.
Why are pregnant women in prison?- A call for midwives for our research study
Why are pregnant women in prison?- A call for midwives for our research study Rona Epstein, Honorary Research Fellow, Coventry Law School, Coventry University Geraldine Brown, Assistant Professor, Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University Elizabeth Bailey, Midwife Research Fellow, Coventry University Maria Garcia de Frutos, Midwifery Lecturer, City University of London Summary Women in prison are known to be a particularly vulnerable group.
FirstView articles
This paper examines the interaction between ‘radical’ constitutional change, in the form of political devolution, and property systems in the UK, from the perspective of those at the margins of those systems. The paper adopts a property ‘from below’ approach and critically applies the theoretical framework developed by AJ van der Walt in Property in the Margins.
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