campaigns and pressure groups affect on policy chnage

Sarah’s Law

It was developed in consultation with Sara Payne, whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was murdered by a convicted paedophile. Roy Whiting was convicted of the abduction and murder of Sarah on December 12 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Whiting had previously abducted and sexually assaulted an eight-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and was sentenced to four years in prison.
Ms Payne campaigned in support of bringing in a scheme similar to Megan's Law in the US, which allows every parent in the country to know if dangerous offenders are living in their area.

The News of the World’s Role

This newspaper’s support was central to the campaign’s success. In July 2000, it ‘named and shamed’ fifty people it claimed were paedophiles The paper promised to continue until it had revealed the identity of every paedophile in Britain. The campaign eventually succeeded – after initial reluctance from the Government due to the vigilante effect

How it Changed People’s Views

Whilst the campaign took some time to gain traction it was successful When another young girl was kidnapped and sexually assaulted the government began to change its mind A minister was sent to the USA to see how Megan’s law worked – a US Policy which allows parents access to information about paedophiles living in their area

The Actual law or Policy Introduced

The Child Sex Offender Disclosure scheme 2008 a pilot scheme was launched in 4 years and in 2011 it was rolled out across England and Wales Anyone can now ask the police for information about people's’ convictions in regards to child sexual offences if they are in contact with the child However, it should be noted that while anyone can ask the police, they are not obliged to disclose information and will only do so if they judge that the child is at risk of harm and the disclosure is necessary to safeguard the child.

Year and a Day Rule

Michael Gibson was 20 when he was assaulted by David Clark in Darlington town centre in April 1992 Michael died after being in a coma for 22 months. Clark could only be charged with grievous bodily harm and was jailed for 2 years. He was free before Michael died At the time, the ‘year and a day’ rule existed. It was a law dating back to 1278. The rule said that if victims of an assault lived for a year and a day, their attackers could not be tried for manslaughter or murder

The Northern Echo’s Role

Michael’s mother at sought to change the law In her support, the Northern Echo newspaper launched a ‘Justice for Michael’ campaign, urging its readers to sign a petition demanding that the year and a day rule be scrapped In 1994, the local MP, Alan Milburn, introduced a bill into the House of Commons to scrap the year and a day rule, but it was narrowly defeated However, following the Northern Echo’s petition, a bill was passed by Parliament to become the 1996 Law Reform Act

Other Examples -The Bradford & Argus Telegraph

Campaign to improve road safety Encouraged readers to send in dash-cam videos of examples of dangerous driving “Operation Steerside” Police began crack down – 8,000 criminals caught Became part of a national consultation to tighten dangerous driving laws in 2016 after Bradford MPs highlighted to Parliament Individual

Clare’s Law

Clare’s father Michael launched a campaign to change the law to enable women to know about their partner’s violent past. He worked for four years, gathering evidence, organising petitions and winning support from charities, politicians and the media for a change in the law.

The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme

Michael’s campaigning finally bore fruit in 2013, when the government introduced a pilot scheme in 4 police areas.  In 2014 the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme was rolled out across all 43 police forces in England and Wales. The DVDS sets out 2 procedures the police can use in disclosing information about an individual's previous violent and abusive offending to their partner: The right to ask- this allows a member of the public to apply to the police to disclose information. They can ask about their own partner or the partner of someone they know. The right to know- this allows the police to disclose information to protect a potential victim, even without having been asked to do so.

Operation of the Scheme

Since introduction the scheme has seen numerous request, For example 2018 -6,496 Right to Asks were requested and 2,575 were granted (40%) However there is varying support around police forces, e.g. Bedfordshire Police only actioned 7% of disclosures
Cumbria Police actioned 96%

Ann Ming and Double Jeopardy

Ann Ming vowed to bring her daughters killer to justice Julie Hogg was murdered in 1989 and Billy Dunlop was charged with the crime. However, after 2 successive juries failed to reach a verdict, he was acquitted. In 1998 he admitted the murder of Hogg. No action could be taken in relation to this murder because of the double jeopardy rule.

Double Jeopardy

Double jeopardy is the legal principle which says a person cannot be trialled for the same crime twice. This law has been around for 800 years but can generate injustice
For example, if a defendant charged with assault is found not guilty, that same person cannot be trialled again for the same crime in the same case.

Changing the Law/Policy

Ming campaigned for a change in the law, lobbying politicians and using the press, TV and radio to publicise the case.
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 was the result of Ann Ming’s successful campaign. It permitted certain serious crimes to be retried. The law was applied retrospectively and Dunlop was the first person to be tried can convicted of murder under the new law

Stephen Lawrence

Stephen Lawrence was a young black teenager who was murdered on 22nd April 1993 aged 18 in an unprovoked racial attack He was born and raised in south east London and dreamed of becoming an architect He didn’t know his killers and his killers didn’t know him. After the initial police investigation, five suspects were arrested but not convicted. There was apparently a lack of evidence to allow convict them

Stephen Lawrence: The Media

February 1997 Daily Mail front page which named Stephen’s killers. The headline prompted an extraordinary political debate and was the launch-pad for this newspaper’s 15 year campaign for justice. Located videos of the gang promoting racist thuggery, police reports and transcripts were printed
Gained support from then PM – John Major in 1997 Inquiry into death cleared by Law Chiefs in 1997
1999 -McPherson Report published

Stephen Lawrence Results

Calls for a change in the rule were also supported by Sir William Macpherson in his report on the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence Police mishandling of the investigation had resulted in a failed prosecution of three of the five original suspects in 1996 Subsequently, new DNA evidence emerged to link one of three, Gary Dobson, to the killing Dobson was re-tried and convicted of the murder, along with another suspect, David Norris, who had not been tried in 1996

What are Pressure Groups

Pressure groups are organisations that try to influence government policies in  the interests of a particular cause
They play an important role in policy making both in gaining public support and creating change by persuading politicians to agree change is needed

Protection Against Stalking

In 2011 PAS launched a campaign to introduce a new law making stalking a specific offence.  The way the police were dealing with stalking was inadequate and haphazard. They lacked a clear policy and investigations were often left to individual officers’ discretion.  Victims were not being taken seriously.

Protection Against Stalking -PAS Attitude to Justice System

The Police were haphazard and inadequate in how they dealt with stalking They lacked clear policy, investigations had poor leadership and officers were allowed discretion in handling the case Victims were not taken seriously There were only 70 prosecutions in 10 years under the 1997 Act

PAS Campaign

PAS concluded that the existing law was not fit for purpose.  PAS set up a an independent parliamentary inquiry, persuading MPs and peers from all parties to serve on it.  The inquiry lasted several months, hearing evidence from victims and their relatives, academic experts, lawyers, police and probation officers.

PAS Campaign Success

This campaign was a success and the report was published in February 2012 with the support of 60 MPs and peers, the Police Federation and the Magistrates’ Association. This became the Protection of Freedoms Act in 2012 and made stalking a criminal offence
It was successful as the campaign allowed: Victim voice to be heard, Frontline practitioners to share their views ,Kept campaign in public eye

INQUEST

The work of the pressure group INQUEST focuses on state-related deaths, such as those of people in police custody, prisons, immigration detention centres and psychiatric care It has been involved in many inquests, including deaths in the Grenfell Tower Fire, the 1989 Hillsborough disaster and the police shooting of Mark Duggan that preceded the London Riots.

INQUEST Campaigns

INQUEST campaigns to ensure that investigations into deaths treat bereaved people with dignity and respect. It is involved in a range of activities:  Casework- INQUEST carries out specialist casework to support bereaved people so they can establish the truth about a death that has occurred while someone is in the care of the state. Accountability- INQUEST aims to ensure the state institutions are held accountable when they fail to safeguard those in their care. Changing policies- INQUEST aims to spread the lessons learnt from investigations in order to prevent further deaths. It gathers evidence from its casework, conducts research and uses its information to press public bodies to change their policies.