I’m glad everyone is looking at CTLs (custody time limits). For me, the real story is not yet being seen. The real story are those people pleading guilty to things they *didn’t do* because waiting for trial will mean spending longer in custody than their sentence would ever be

Imagine a person, let’s call him Person A, is arrested. He is remanded in custody, presumed innocent. He can soon now be held for 238 days in a prison awaiting trial. He says he is not guilty. And he is innocent until a jury says otherwise.

He has a side to the story. It’s a defence if it is or might be true. The jury will hear it. They will decide. He remains innocent until they say he is not. He is waiting for a courtroom. Waiting for justice.

Prisons are struggling to maintain their usual systems during COVID.

He’s often locked in a cell for over 20 hours a day. It’s unbearable. Family visits are restricted. He doesn’t see a lawyer for months. He’s depressed and homesick. He’s still innocent until proven guilty.

And he waits.

Now. Here’s the kicker. Every day you spend in custody ordinarily “comes off” your sentence if you happen to be convicted. And you will recall from headlines in popular newspapers that many offenders serve *half* their sentence in custody.

So. If, for example, you’re on remand for about 6 months then you’ve served roughly the equivalent of a 12 month sentence. Which means - if your sentence is likely to be *less* than, and you throw the towel in and just plead guilty - you’ll probably be released on the spot.

Now. I like to think I’d have the courage of my convictions to sit in that cell, often at present on 20 hour+ lockdown, and fight for my innocence no matter what. Would you? Would everyone?

At what point does going home become irresistible - even if you’ve done nothing wrong?

Some are more susceptible to those feelings than others. You like to think you’d stand your ground. It helps to believe that. We all like to think the best of ourselves. Could you do 182 days? Could you do 238? What if they still extended it then?

How long is too long?

So, CTLs extend and we see some creeping, uneasy changes of plea.

People, suddenly, are guilty, they say.

I did it. I did what they say I did, in the way they say I did it - my quite reasonable defence is now abandoned, and I was just wondering...

Could I please go home now?

It doesn’t look like justice. It doesn’t feel like justice. Suspecting crude mathematical and economic calculations of human lives and liberty and watching people bypass who is right and who is wrong because all it ever boils down to are hard numbers.

And going home.