Tomorrow sees the start of the Paisley Book Festival 2026. Last year, one of the highlights was the event featuring Kirstin Anderson's Barlinnie Special Unit. Here is a review of this fabulous book @kir-anderson.bsky.social @erasmusresearch.bsky.social erasmusresearch.com/the-barlinni...

The Barlinnie Special Unit – A Book Review - Erasmus Research

The publication of The Barlinnie Special Unit: Art, Punishment and Innovation offers a timely and significant contribution to debates on punishment, reform, and the limits of the prison as an institut...

erasmusresearch.com

Undercover officers secretly spied on the Hackney Community Defence Association in east London, because it sought to expose wrongdoing and corruption in the Metropolitan police www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Police spied on group set up to expose wrongdoing in Met, inquiry hears

The HCDA, which sought to expose police corruption and violence, was secretly monitored for a decade

theguardian.com

Today, the Scottish 'justice' system' is facing a number of challenges. One that a lot of people aren't aware of is our informal plea-bargaining system. Our new blog draws on the post office scandal to highlight the dangers of this murky world of grubby deals. erasmusresearch.com/the-hidden-c...

The Hidden Crisis in Plea Bargaining — and Why Scotland Should Be Worried - Erasmus Research

The new UCL/University of Exeter report on the Post Office scandal should alarm anyone who cares about justice in the UK. While much has been written about the Post Office’s aggressive prosecution str...

erasmusresearch.com

erasmusresearch.com/historical-w... Official apologies come easy. Accountability doesn’t. Read Professor Margaret Malloch on the long road to justice after Hillsborough and Allan Marshall.

Historical Wrongs and Contemporary Rights: Memorialising Injustice - Erasmus Research

A Blog by Professor Margaret Malloch When injustice occurs at the hands of powerful institutions, it is rarely straightforward to have it acknowledged, let alone obtain redress. Institutional cover-up...

erasmusresearch.com

The new ICE song by Jesse Welles nails it. ICE isn’t recruiting heroes, it’s recruiting the bitter, the rejected, the ones desperate for a badge to cover their failures. Losers with power become the most dangerous kind. (c/o Caroline Codsi)

PODCAST - Professor Margaret Malloch discusses her research looking at the contemporary movements memorialising the Scottish Witch Hunts. So many parallels between historical and contemporary forms of scapegoating... watch the podcast below 👇👇👇 erasmusresearch.com/remembering-...

Remembering Injustice - Erasmus Research

Podcast - Remembering Injustice: The Movement to Memorialize Scotland's Witch Trials with Dr Margaret Malloch Dr Margaret Malloch, Professor of Criminology at the University of Stirling (and integral ...

erasmusresearch.com

Fear isn’t a by-product of authoritarianism. It is the strategy. From war-footing propaganda to hostile welfare cuts, the UK is waging psychological warfare on its own people. Read why fear is the system — and how we resist it: erasmusresearch.com/the-politica... #politics

The Political Function of Fear: Why the Government Wants You Afraid - Erasmus Research

“There are two ways in which people are controlled: first of all frighten them, and secondly demoralise them... An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern.” — Tony Benn https://www....

erasmusresearch.com

LAPD out there like

Why we stand with Kneecap - a short blog on being on the right side of history... erasmusresearch.com/being-on-the...

Being on the Right Side of History - Erasmus Research

This week, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (AKA Mo Chara) of the Irish rap group Kneecap was charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a gig in London. The potential sentence? U...

erasmusresearch.com

Many thanks to @joesmithcreative.bsky.social for an excellent write up of our session at the Paisley Book Festival last month paisleybookfestival.com/blog-buildin...

Blog: Building Hope: Art, Architecture, and the Possibility of Abolition - Paisley Book Festival

Dr Kirstin Anderson, lecturer in criminology at Edinburgh Napier University, and Professor Yvonne Jewkes, one of the

paisleybookfestival.com

What if punishment isn't about justice—but about power, control, and unconscious desire? Judges as moral actors… or as performers of dominance? New blog: The Pleasure of Punishment 👇 erasmusresearch.com/the-pleasure...

The Pleasure of Punishment: Unconscious Desire and the Performance of Judicial Power - Erasmus Research

The punishment system, far from preventing harm, often exacerbates it. Despite efforts in Scotland and elsewhere to reduce prison populations, judges and sheriffs persist in handing down custodial sen...

erasmusresearch.com

Paisley plants 🫶

Blooming fabulous Paisley 👌

Paisley is blooming great 👌

The UN Special Rapporteur for Torture stated in 2023, indeterminate sentences create “levels of pain or suffering beyond those inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions. Yet, the Scottish Government persists in handing out the OLR #NOLR #HumanRights

“The Scottish penal system has long been regarded as one of the most progressive in the world, but OLR discredits the nation yet, unlike IPP, has not been ended.” 2024- Wendy Sinclair-Gieben, then serving Chief Inspector of Prisons in Scotland. #NOLR #endOLRsentences

Want to help? Go to nolr.org/how-you-can-..., where you can find a template letter to your MSP, make a donation or contact us and join us as a member.

How You Can help - OLR Campaign

The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies published a report in 2022 which likened indeterminate sentences to psychological torture.

nolr.org

Today we are highlighting some of the basic facts about OLRs and statistics on how they have been used. Follow #NOLR for all posts

279 OLRs have been imposed since 2006, but only 24 people have been released, with 8 recalled to prison. Source: www.rma.scot/olr/about-the-olr/ #NOLR #PrisonReform

About the OLR - RMA - Risk Management Authority

RMA - Risk Management Authority The Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR) is a unique sentence. The RMA oversee the administration.

rma.scot

Scotland has one of the highest prison mortality rates in Europe, OLRs are creating toxic conditions that make this situation worse. 18 people on OLRs have died in custody and 6 in the community, with five people most likely having ended their own life. Source: FOI by #NOLR #ScottishPrisonService

The OLR was introduced to protect the public from “the most serious sexual and violent offenders.” However, 124 people have been given an OLR with a punishment tariff of less than 4 years – 29 of which are under 2 years. #NOLR #ScotJustice

By 2029, it is predicted there will be 330 OLR prisoners and many will remain in prison for many years over their tariff. The bill to the Scottish taxpayer for one prisoner per year is over £47,000. This means the annual bill for just OLR prisoners in 2029 will be £15,510,000. #PublicCosts #NOLR

RMA Guidelines say: ‘assessors should state clearly the limitations of making judgements about life course persistent risk in relation to children/young people’. Despite this, 38 OLRs have been handed out to under 25s, 13 to under 20s #NOLR #UNCRC #YouthJustice

Want to help? Go to nolr.org/how-you-can-..., where you can find a template letter to your MSP, make a donation or contact us and join us as a member.

How You Can help - OLR Campaign

The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies published a report in 2022 which likened indeterminate sentences to psychological torture.

nolr.org

Today we are highlighting the stories of people on Orders of Lifelong Restrictions. Follow #NOLR for all posts.

‘L’ was given an OLR for breach of the peace. Given a 6 month tariff, he has spent 12 years in prison, where he was diagnosed with autism. It will be at least 4 years before he is released, but he is already scared that one minor misstep once out will see him back in prison #NOLR

‘R’ spent 16 yrs in prison on an OLR with a punishment tariff of 2 ½ yrs. Released by the Parole Board, he was recalled after 4 days because a Social Worker claimed he breached his parole licence. R insists he complied and doesn’t know what he did wrong #NOLR #IPPCampaign

‘P’ has been in prison for 18 yrs with a punishment tariff of 18 months. Despite a diagnosis of autism 6 yrs ago, he has not had his risk assessment updated, even though the Parole Board agree this should have been done. He feels he is being warehoused and has lost hope #NOLR #MentalHealth