Criminal History in England: The Search for the Snark

For the last 100 years English sentencing law has found it difficult to fashion a defensible and effective strategy for dealing with persistent offenders. Since at least 1908 there have been legislative attempts to separate persistent serious offenders, for whom an incapacitative strategy might be pursued, from the bulk of small-time but frequent offenders, for whom other strategies are more appropriate. Current efforts are noted.