I have questions Mr Clarke...

Ken Clarke, Justice Secretary has like any other justice / home secretary before him has been going on about how we have a "broken penal system". Ken, unfortunately there has been a broken penal system long before you were born and in all probability it will still be broken long after you are gone. Frankly, the only comfort is that it is almost certain you cant make it worse, although I do think you might give it a go.

At this point you might expect a typical blogger to go off on one about how Ken is a complete idiot, all the politicians are idiots, society is broke, its all the parents fault, just lock them up or some other stuff generally said from a soap box.

For me personally the riots are almost too big to have answers for, all I have is more questions. So what I thought I would do, if dear reader you will indulge me is make a big list of some of them. Feel free to add any more in comments.

74 questions to be precise Mr Clarke.

So here are some questions that have occurred so far:

1. At what point should a person be considered as un rehabilatable?
2. What is the "age of intervention", the key year in someone life where an intervention can make the difference between a life of crime and a life as an average citizen?
3. How do you convince someone that it is better to earn the money to buy a TV by working for a month rather than spend five minutes nicking one (Seriously on this one - what do you say to someone who has been arrested twenty times for burglary)?
4. Should the government force parents of wayward children to have parenting lessons?
5. How many times do you give someone one last chance?
6. Is it the education system's fault?
7. Is it societies fault?
8. Is it my fault?
9. Are more prisons the answer?
10. Are larger prisons the answer?
11. Are smaller prisons the answer?
12. Should more prisons be placed in areas like Dartmoor?
13. Should military service be an alternative instead of prison?
14. Does Ken Clarke know what he is talking about?
15. If we had given the three quarters of rioters over 18 with a previous conviction tougher sentences so that more of them were in jail at the time of the riots would we have still had the riots?
16. Should the private sector run rehabilitation schemes given their track record on job seekers?
17. Would the charity and non for profit sector be a better option?
18. Which problem do we solve first - Drugs?
19. Which problem do we solve first - Alcohol abuse?
20. Which problem do we solve first - Unemployment?
21. Which problem do we solve first - Apathy?
22. Which problem do we solve first - Respect for authority?
23. Which problem do we solve first - Job training?
24. Which problem do we solve first - General Education?
25. Which problem do we solve first - Literacy and Numeracy?
26. Were the police ham strung by human rights issues?
27. Did politicians hinder the police response?
28. Did Senior Police management hinder the on the ground response?
29. What responsibility lies with the media?
30. Does the media making stars out of everyone make it worse?
31. Should criminals / looters be interviewed?
32. Has society taught the youth of today to take what they want?
33. Is the internet causing us to break normal social boundaries?
34. Is this problem a new one or has it been the same in the past?
35. Do people understand the consequences of their actions anymore?
36. Is this related to the culture of "no winners and losers"?
37. Are we unrealistic with the youth of today, do we offer them the world but give them nothing?
38. Is this part of a materialistic culture?
39. Is this part of a selfish culture?
40. Should we have more positive role models?
41. How do we get more positive role models?
42. Does the person who burnt down the carpet store show remorse?
43. Are these criminals also victims?
44. Why do people re - offend?
45. Can we stop re - offending or is it all ready too late by the time of the first offence?
46. What do the criminals themselves say would stop them re - offending?
47. Do community sentences actually work?
48. What are other countries doing?
49. Is the justice system too slow, should justice be quicker - arrest and imprison same day?
50. Should first time offenders be treated differently and put in different prisons?
51. Should criminals be rewarded for not re - offending?
52. Should the police use tear gas to break up riots?
53. Should we have weekend prisons Friday night to Monday morning especially for town centre brawlers?
54. Where should we invest our money - youth crime?
55. Where should we invest our money - adult crime?
56. Where should we invest our money - Police?
57. Where should we invest our money - Criminal justice system?
58. Where should we invest our money - Social work?
59. Where should we invest our money - Drug crime?
60. Can we ever fix the penal system?
61. What is  a timeline for a typical career criminal?
62. What happens as each stage?
63. What were the contacts by any government body and what happens at each contact ?
64. Was there a tiping point?
65. How much does it cost to rehabilitate a career criminal?
66. Could we have seen the riots coming?
67. What should the police have done on the first night?
68. Why didn't they?
69. Is swift and harsh justice going to create another problem?
70. Should we create a body that continually reviews all aspects of society to suggest policies that stop or help prevent low level criminal activity?
71. Should this body be completely independent from the political system?
72. Is their already such a body?
73. How do I join?
74. Where do we, society go next?