NLJ this week: Stop sending mothers to prison

The Sentencing Council guideline—due to come into effect this week but accused of creating ‘two-tier’ sentencing and now suspended—would have been a step forward, Epstein writes. However, she suggests several other reforms, drawing some inspiration from jurisdictions abroad.

Epstein, an Honorary Research Fellow, Law School, Coventry University and Honorary Visiting Research Fellow at the Law School, University of York, lists the many health risks for both mother and child. She writes: ‘Sentencing a pregnant woman to prison means potentially causing her child significant developmental trauma due to separation. Evidence also shows that the additional stress that imprisoned pregnant women feel due to their environment can have a direct impact on the developing child and result in lifelong health and well-being challenges.’