Release as a sign of our times

This paper explores the recent public discourse on release from prison in England and Wales as a prism through which to view the wider justice system. There is much we can learn by looking at this pivotal point in someone’s justice journey as it tells us not only about individual experiences on losing and regaining one’s freedom but about fundamental values on liberty and the rule of law as well as a society’s stance on justice. This paper confronts the question of how the spaces through which release is negotiated and takes place serve to shape attitudes towards justice. We are interested here to build connections between different geographies of court, carceral spaces and theoretical dimensions of justice. This paper raises important questions about how current public perceptions of failures to enforce the rule of law and erroneously releasing prisoners prematurely are connected to longstanding implications of debates around safety. Here we want to reflect on the endurance of the concept of a fixed border between prison and the outside world by looking at the significance of release.