Texas-style justice 'remains a pipe dream in the UK

Where ten years ago around one in 20 adults were either behind bars, on parole, or on probation, the state has transformed its penal system, adopting a more nuanced approach that looks at crime and offenders in a more holistic way.

Under the Republican-led programme, many criminals who would traditionally be sent to jail are instead sentenced to intense community-led schemes designed to deal with the cause of their offending, such as drug abuse and mental health issues.

In the first year alone, this change in approach delivered cost savings of almost £300m, while reoffending rates also fell significantly. Three prisons have now been closed, along with nine of the state's 14 young offender units.

The success is based, in part, on the development of specialist courts, zero tolerance on drugs and alcohol, provision of therapy, and a problem-solving approach to sentencing, rather than punishment.

During the programme, we were introduced to Judge Bobby Francis, who runs such a court in Dallas County. A conservative Republican, he claims eight out of ten defendants who pass through his courts 'graduate'. Interestingly, he also described taking a paternal approach towards the defendants; I would be keen to learn the views of our Crown Court judges on becoming 'father figures' to the defendants they sentence.

The success of this system
has been so marked that Michael Gove has travelled to Texas
to learn the secrets of its
success. Keen to rid the UK of
its claim of having the highest imprisonment rate in western Europe and half of prisoners going on to reoffend upon release, he suggested he wanted to introduce specialist courts with a 'problem-solving approach'.

However, as a criminal defence advocate, it was disappointing to discover the justice secretary had not done his homework. In Liverpool, where I practise, 2005 saw the introduction of the Community Justice Centre (CJC), the brainchild of David Blunkett. This was a 'problem-solving' court where a multi-agency approach was taken to sentencing defendants, much like Judge Bobby's in Texas.

While this court still runs,
it has now been moved to a different shared court premises, and no longer has on-site access to the agencies it did before.
The main reason for this seems
to be that the results did not justify the costs.

So, although I agree with Gove's aims, the ideas are not new. Perhaps his time would have been better spent researching his own jurisdiction rather than further afield. The CJC was downscaled due to its expense. The Dallas initiatives worked due to investment, as money set aside to build new prisons was used to set up the new courts.

Transformation on this scale requires significant investment to become a reality. There is currently no funding to enable this level of prison reform in the UK. Innovative programmes also need to be given time to mature and develop until they are able to deliver real results. Without tangible, financial commitment from the government, the implementation of real change in our penal system will, unfortunately, remain an inaccessible pipe dream.

Hayley Cooper is a solicitor and higher court advocate at Kirwans @KirwansLaw www.kirwanssolicitors.co.uk