PINT of JUSTICE April 2026

PINT OF JUSTICE 2025/26

Join us for the fourth year of Pint of Justice, a monthly event bringing research out of the university and into the pub!

On the last Wednesday of the month, we’ll gather at The Lord Roberts Pub in Nottingham City Centre to hear short, thought-provoking talks from researchers and academics working on issues that matter—like climate justice, gender and sexuality, religion, migration, social inequality, tech ethics, and more. No jargon, no slides—just real conversations about real-world topics.

This month's talk is:

Do Prisons Keep Us Safe? Debunking the Myths of the Carceral State

by Dr Katie Hunt

This talk explores the idea of penal abolition and why many scholars and activists argue that prisons and policing do not deliver the safety we expect from them. Drawing on evidence about the harms caused by the carceral system, it explores how imprisonment disproportionately affects marginalised communities without addressing the circumstances that lead people to offend in the first place. Along the way, we’ll look at some of the ‘penal myths’ that keep the system in place, such as the belief that prisons make us safer, that reforms can fix a system built on punishment, or that there is no workable alternative to incarceration. Instead, the talk presents abolition as a constructive, future-oriented project centred on building social conditions that prevent harm, including frameworks of restorative and transformative justice. Finally, it introduces ‘non-reformist reforms’ as practical steps we can take now that shrink the reach of the penal system while paving the way for more transformative change.

After the talk, stick around for a relaxed Q&A and a chance to chat over pizza and drinks, and maybe also join the quiz night.

Free and open to all.

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Host or Publisher CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE RESEARCH GROUP