Judges told to push back sentencing amid prison overcrowding crisis

Published

1 year ago

August 23, 2024

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Magistrates have been told to consider pushing back the sentencing of criminals because of concerns about overcrowding in prisons.

Sky News has seen an internal direction sent to courts in England and Wales saying hearings due in the next two weeks should be reviewed if the defendant is currently on bail – and potentially postponed until mid-September.

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The document, sent on Wednesday by deputy senior presiding judge Lord Justice Green, and first reported by the Times, said the direction was being made “in the context of the current challenges in our prisons”.

They added: “Where it is assessed that a custodial sentence is a possible outcome, consideration should be given to rescheduling the hearing for the shortest possible period of time, but not earlier than 10 September.

“Every case must be considered on an individual basis and decisions must be made on the basis of the interests of justice.”

The government has already announced the standard release date for many prisoners will be brought forward – freeing up thousands of cells across the country.

But this measure is not due to come into force until 10 September, meaning the large numbers of recent riot-related convictions are putting extra immediate pressure on the prison system.

The direction from Lord Justice Green means that individuals who have been found guilty of crimes will potentially stay out of prison on bail for several more weeks.

A government source pointed out that defendants judged to pose the most significant risk to the public will already be behind bars and this guidance does not apply to them.

The source also said courts can impose stringent bail conditions ahead of sentencing.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The new government inherited a prisons crisis, and this is yet another sign of the pressures our justice system is facing. The changes coming into force in September will bring it under control”.

Magistrates deal with crimes like assault and burglary, and have the power to hand down a maximum sentence of six months for a single offence and 12 months for multiple offences.

Earlier this week, the government triggered Operation Early Dawn – meaning defendants could be held in police cells for longer until prison space becomes available.

Politics

Prediction markets bet on Coinbase-linked Hassett as top Fed pick

Published

6 hours ago

December 1, 2025

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Prediction markets bet on Coinbase-linked Hassett as top Fed pick

Prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi view Kevin Hassett, US President Donald Trump’s National Economic Council director, as the favorite to replace Jerome Powell as the next Federal Reserve chair.

The odds of Hassett filling the seat have spiked to 66% on Polymarket and 74% on Kalshi at the time of writing. Hassett is widely viewed as crypto‑friendly thanks to his past role on Coinbase’s advisory council, a disclosed seven‑figure stake in the exchange and his leadership of the White House digital asset working group.

Founder and CEO of Wyoming-based Custodia Bank, and a prominent advocate for crypto-friendly regulations, Caitlin Long, commented on X:

“If this comes true & Hassett does become Fed chairman, anti-#crypto people at the Fed who still hold positions of power will finally be out (well, most of them anyway). BIG changes will be coming to the Fed.”

Kevin Hassett’s crypto credentials

Hassett is a long-time Republican policy economist who returned to Washington as Trump’s top economic adviser and has now emerged as the market-implied frontrunner to lead the Fed.

His financial disclosure reveals at least a seven‑figure Coinbase stake and compensation for serving on the exchange’s Academic and Regulatory Advisory Council, placing him unusually close to the crypto industry for a potential Fed chair.

Still, crypto has been burned before by reading too much into “crypto‑literate” resumes. Gary Gensler arrived at the Securities and Exchange Commission with MIT blockchain courses under his belt, but went on to preside over a wave of high‑profile enforcement actions, some of which critics branded as “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.”

A Hassett-led Fed might be more open to experimentation and less reflexively hostile to bank‑crypto activity. Still, the institution’s mandate on financial stability means markets should not assume a one‑way bet on deregulation.

Supervision pushback inside the Fed

The Hassett odds have jumped just as the Fed’s own approach to bank supervision has received pushback from veterans like Fed Governor Michael Barr, who earned his reputation as one of Operation Chokepoint 2.0’s key architects.

According to Caitlin Long, while he Barr “was Vice Chairman of Supervision & Regulation he did Warren’s bidding,” and he “has made it clear he will oppose changes made by Trump & his appointees.”

On Nov. 18, the Fed released new Supervisory Operating Principles that shift examiners toward a “risk‑first” framework, directing staff to focus on material safety‑and‑soundness risks rather than procedural or documentation issues.

In a speech the same day, Barr warned that narrowing oversight, weakening ratings frameworks and making it harder to issue enforcement actions or matters requiring attention could leave supervisors slower to act on emerging risks, arguing that gutting those tools may repeat pre‑crisis mistakes.

Days later, in Consumer Affairs Letter 25‑1, the Fed clarified that the new Supervisory Operating Principles do not apply to its Consumer Affairs supervision program (an area under Barr’s committee as a governor).

If prediction markets are right and a crypto‑friendly Hassett inherits this landscape, his Fed would not be writing on a blank slate but stepping into an institution already mid‑pivot on how hard (and where) it leans on banks.