Involving You and The Community in Criminal Justice

Who was John Howard?

John Howard was an eighteenth century prison reformer who believed that every citizen must ultimately accept individual responsibility for the criminal justice system. He was appointed High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and used his position to investigate and report on the conditions of prisons in England.

Reports he tabled in the House of Commons inspired laws, which helped reform, the difficult and often inhumane conditions he encountered.

The legacy of John Howard's reforms originates from his arguments for prisoner medical care, the provision of food, the expedient release of prisoners when so ordered by the courts, that younger prisoners be separated from older hardened prisoners, that men and women have separate prisons and that prisoners have access to work and activity.