The Punk Poet on What Once Was an Innovative Act

The Industrial Revolution was one of the main drivers of social and economic change in England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Rapid urbanization and industrialization led to an explosion in city populations, which, in turn, resulted in increased crime rates and social unrest.

The legal system at that time was characterized by harsh punishments, even for relatively minor offenses. The so-called Bloody Code prescribed the death penalty for many, let’s call them venial crimes, which made the public and politicians increasingly uncomfortable. At the same time, prisons were terribly overcrowded and conditions were desolate, to say the least. And sending convicts to penal colonies like Australia—a once popular alternative—was seen as too excessive and expensive.

In response to these shortcomings, the Criminal Law Act of 1827 was introduced. The law allowed judges to show mercy and, for example, issue suspended sentences. This was significant because it marked a shift towards a more lenient approach in the justice system. By suspending sentences, judges could give offenders the opportunity to rehabilitate without immediate imprisonment.

Suspended sentences have remained a common feature of criminal justice systems in many countries. They are often used in conjunction with probation and other forms of community supervision.

Despite the introduction of suspended sentences, the English justice system is not beyond all doubt. In 1978, for example, John Cooper Clarke, often dubbed the “punk poet,” created a sharp social commentary challenging themes of crime, punishment and the judicial system. 

“They'd hang you for incontinence and fiddling your tax; failure to hang yourself justified the axe,” he notes at one point in “Suspended Sentence”, a tongue-in-cheek song featuring Cooper Clarke’s typical spoken word-style lyrics that are augmented by a good portion of dark humor and irony.

Listen

• punk
• spokenword
• 1970s