Wherever else they may fail, politicians charged with running the criminal justice system seldom fall short of ideas ? and most of them are off the wall. For example, we had former home secretary John Reid threatening to build "Titan" jails when, as seasoned prison watchers will tell you, the few jails that do "work" tend to be the smaller ones. Then there was Louise Casey and her high-visibility jackets, intended to be worn by offenders on community service orders and clearly designed to humiliate.

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