Give magistrates a fair hearing before you judge them

http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2015/jul/05/give-magistrates-fair-hearing

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In your editorial reflecting on Michael Gove’s speech (“Michael Gove must be bold and tackle the tinderbox of our jails”, Comment), you referred to magistrates as “poorly trained, old and white, increasingly unrepresentative of the rest of us”.

There are now more female magistrates than male, by some 52% to 48% respectively. The ethnic make-up of the bench, at 91% white, very closely mirrors the demographics of England and Wales with respect to the most reliable census data from 2001. This data is reliable because over the last decade recruitment to the bench has been practically frozen, ergo few appointments, little change.

Yes, there are challenges with age when the majority of magistrates are aged 40 or over. Again, with recruitment halted this is unsurprising, yet one need only look at London to see younger magistrates coming through. Regrettably, inflexible employers still hold back younger would-be magistrates.

One of the most enduring myths about magistrates is that they are punitive. Four out of every 100 cases in the magistrates court end in immediate custody. We leave it to your readers whether this is too high or low, yet we contend it does not indicate a jail-hungry culture. Magistrates are a link between communities and the administration of the law, not salaried lawyers and judges. Without us, heaven help a defendant walking into a courtroom filled only with lawyers.

Richard Monkhouse

Chairman, Magistrates Association

London W1

Racism is still rife in US culture

“Ten days that turned America into a better place” (Comment) made some important points. A start, certainly. But the real epiphany will come only when radical action is taken to stop the mass incarceration of African American males. One in nine African American males between ages of 20 and 34 is now in prison and if current rates hold, one-third of all black men will be imprisoned at some point in their lifetime. These figures, together with injustices associated with voting restrictions that disproportionately affect black people, demonstrate that America still has a long way to go in the struggle against racism.

Chris Phillipson

Professor of sociology and social gerontology, University of Manchester

Planning controversies rage on

A very interesting news article was “The hill fort where Guinevere was born has lasted 3,000 years: now it’s under siege”. I suspect this is happening up and down the country. It certainly is in Garstang, a small market town in Lancashire. A potential 10,000 houses are proposed to be built on the “A6 corridor”, on prime greenfield sites. A six-week “public consultation” is currently under way and nobody seems to know about it. Wyre Borough, the local authority, appears to be doing its very best to keep the vastness of potential development under wraps.

Kate Greenway

Garstang

Cuts threaten family health

We are gravely concerned about potential cuts to health visiting services and the negative impact this would have on child, maternal and family health. Health visitors and other health professionals have a profound impact on the health and wellbeing of women, young children and their families.

We were delighted to see the previous government’s support for a 4,200 increase in health visitor numbers and welcomed the commitment in the Conservative party manifesto to strengthen the health visiting programme for new mothers. We are now extremely concerned as to how this commitment is to be reconciled with local authority public health budgets being reduced by £200m, given that health visiting is likely to be a service under review.

Investment in early years health is crucial and health visitors are key to leading this, not least because from October they will be key to providing the early years elements of the Healthy Child Programme – the main universal health service for improving the wellbeing of children and their families.

Prof Neena Modi president, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health; Prof Maureen Baker chair, Royal College of General Practitioners; Dr Peter Carter chief executive, Royal College of Nursing; Prof Cathy Warwick chief executive, Royal College of Midwives; Prof John R Ashton president, the UK Faculty of Public Health; Dr Cheryll Adams director, Institute of Health Visiting; Obi Amadi professional officer, Unite/Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association

Make your own theatrical exit

Elizabeth Day is wrong for the right reasons in her dislike of theatre (“Thanks for bringing theatre to life, Lenny”, Comment). Yes, there are many overlong plays and the experience can be ruined by leaden pace or egotistical acting. You do see shows with good ideas and unplayable dialogue. You have to be discriminating in your choice, so avoid seeing a show based on a single review. Favour matinees – leave your precious Saturday evening free for other pleasures. And don’t be afraid of leaving at the interval. Philip Larkin wrote of the liberating experience of having a second drink at the interval and walking away from a play that he wasn’t enjoying. And never go to a theatre just because there is a “star” performing. The play really is the thing.

Aidan Steer

London SW12