Advocates of alternative sentencing want us to believe that the alternatives are real penalties that will be effective. We will believe it when we see it, and across the pond they aren't seeing it. The title above is from this BBC story.

Experts from King's College London examined Community Orders and Suspended Sentence Orders, which were introduced in England and Wales four years ago.

They require offenders to do unpaid work or undergo rehabilitation.

But a probation officer interviewed for the study said those under the orders left court "laughing their heads off".

The King's College press release is here, and the full study is here. From the press release:

Government attempts to slow a rapidly rising prison population by a reformed, and credible, community sentences framework has largely failed, according to a new report published today by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College London. Indeed there is evidence that the Community Orders and Suspended Sentence Orders, which came into effect in April 2005, are contributing to the rise in prison numbers, rather than helping to arrest its growth.