Justice – Global Firsts and Facts

English philanthropist John Howard, when he becoming high sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1773, he toured the local jail. He found it appallingly unhealthy, and learned that prisoners were forced to pay their own jailers, those unable to pay the discharge fee were kept, even those whose cases were acquitted. In 1974 he got the House of Commons passed prison reform acts that abolished discharge fees and required justices to oversee the health of prisoners. Then in 1777 Howard wrote the reformist tract State of the Prisons.

Date:
1773, 1774, 1777
Name(s):
John Howard
Occupation:
Philanthropist
High Sheriff
Location:
Bedfordshire

Additional Information:

John Howard (prison reformer) – Wikipedia
John Howard FRS (2 September 1726 – 20 January 1790) was a philanthropist and the first English prison reformer.
Prison reform – Wikipedia
Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, establish a more effective penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration.
Elizabeth Fry – Wikipedia
Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney, often referred to as Betsy; 21 May 1780 – 12 October 1845) was an English prison reformer, social reformer and, as a Quaker, a Christian philanthropist. She has sometimes been referred to as the “angel of prisons”.