lead author, The Criminal Justice Blog; prison-reform advocate; criminal-justice system commentator; criminologist
Faith Spear FRSA is a prison reform advocate best known for her integrity as a staunch critic of this country’s prison system.
Until January 2017, Faith served as chair of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at HMP/YOI Hollesley Bay.
She authored a groundbreaking article published in The Prisons Handbook 2016 speaking out against wrongdoings, injustice and unfairness in prisons and highlighted issues such as the deficiency in purposeful activity, poor prison conditions and lack of independent prison monitoring.
As a result, Faith was controversially suspended from her role by the prisons minister, Andrew Selous MP, bullied and ostracised by her local IMB board and unsupported by the IMB Secretariat, faced two investigations and a disciplinary hearing at Ministry of Justice HQ. Dismissed from her role in January 2017 by a second prisons minister, Sam Gyimah MP, and banned from the IMB for 5 years.
Undeterred, Faith has developed a reputation for her courageous and outspoken stance on prison-related issues. She is known for challenging the status quo and addressing systemic failures within the prison system. Her work has earned her respect among her peers and recognition as a leading voice in the ongoing efforts to reform the UK’s prisons.
The topics of Faith’s blogs have proven consistently correct, evidenced by the crisis in our prisons, unprecedented overcrowding, critical understaffing, places of violence and devoid of any meaningful rehabilitative outcomes.
You can follow her writing at The Criminal Justice Blog.
Follow Faith on X/Twitter: @fmspear