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The Law Show

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Conversation about the laws making headlines, and the laws that shape everyday life.

The Law Show is your guide to the law and the legal decisions that have a bearing on everyone in the UK.

Weekly conversation that will give you an in-depth understanding of the law stories making news and the legal decisions that could have a bearing on everyone in the UK. Whether it's unpicking a landmark legal ruling, explaining how laws are made or seeking clarity for you on a legal issue, The Law Show will be your guide.

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Law in Action

The Law Show: Mums Behind Bars

Mums Behind Bars

24/11/2015

BBC Radio 4 - The Law Show, Mums Behind Bars

Should fewer mothers be sent to prison? Joshua Rozenberg asks if there are alternatives.

Should fewer mothers be sent to prison? Joshua Rozenberg examines what happens to children when their mums are locked up and asks if there are better alternatives.

Every year thousands of children see their mothers jailed, typically for non-violent offences. Often the mother is the child's primary carer. And in the vast majority of cases the children of imprisoned mothers are placed in the care of other relatives or foster parents. This week Law in Action asks whether fewer mothers should be sent to prison, and whether there are better alternatives. A mother and daughter tell Joshua Rozenberg what it's like when childhood is disrupted by a mother's imprisonment. And we hear from Juliet Lyon of the Prison Reform Trust and Andrea Albutt, the new president of the Prison Governors Association. Also in the programme: Jeremy Wright, the Attorney General, on contempt of court.

Producers: Keith Moore and Tim Mansel.

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