In January 2015, Tommy Nicol told his family that he was suffering “psychological torture of a person who is doing 99 years”.(2015年1月，汤米·尼科尔告诉家人，他正遭受着“被判99年之人的心理折磨”。) Nicol had been given an imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence six years earlier for stealing a car from a garage and injuring the owner. He was already two years beyond his four-year tariff(（监狱中的）最低服刑期) – the minimum time you can serve in prison before being considered for release. Nicol was given another two-year knock-back(拒绝，驳回) from the Parole Board and was in despair. If and when he got released, he would be on a lifelong licence. Eight months later, aged 37, Nicol hanged(上吊自杀（过去式）) himself at The Mount prison in Hertfordshire, England.
2015年1月，汤米·尼科尔告诉家人，他正遭受着“被判99年之人的心理折磨”。六年前，尼科尔因从车库偷车并致车主受伤而被判处公共保护监禁（IPP）刑罚。他早已超过四年刑期——即获释前必须服完的最短刑期——两年。尼科尔又遭到假释委员会的两年驳回，陷入绝望。即便有朝一日获释，他也将终身处于许可之下。八个月后，37岁的尼科尔在英格兰赫特福德郡的芒特监狱自缢身亡。
By the time he took his own life, the inhumane IPP sentence had already been abolished for three years. The problem is, it didn’t apply retroactively(追溯地，有追溯效力地). Those already serving IPP sentences stayed on them. This, despite David Blunkett, who devised and introduced them as home secretary in 2005, calling it “the biggest regret” of his political career.(尽管戴维·布伦基特……称其为政治生涯中“最大的遗憾”，但情况依然如此。) And this despite UN special rapporteur(特别报告员（联合国）) on torture Alice Edwards agreeing with Tommy Nicol that the sentence was “psychological torture”. Astonishingly, more than 2,000 people are still serving IPP sentences in England and Wales.
到他自杀时，不人道的IPP刑罚已被废除三年。问题是，废除并不追溯既往。那些已在服IPP刑期的人仍继续服刑。尽管戴维·布伦基特——2005年以内政大臣身份设计并推行该刑罚——称其为政治生涯中“最大的遗憾”；尽管联合国酷刑问题特别报告员爱丽丝·爱德华兹同意汤米·尼科尔的观点，认为该刑罚是“心理折磨”；但情况依然如此。令人震惊的是，英格兰和威尔士仍有2000多人在服IPP刑期。
Last week prime minister Andy Burnham announced a new review into indeterminate(不确定的，无期限的) sentences as part of his plan to reduce the prison population. Reviewing a sentence that was abolished 14 years ago seems Kafkaesque.(审查一项14年前就已废除的刑罚，似乎有些卡夫卡式。) And what exactly is left to review? We all know IPPs are wrong – they are no longer handed down(（法官）宣判，正式宣布), and those serving them should be resentenced. Review after review has said so. Surely it makes more sense to simply introduce legislation to make that happen?
上周，首相安迪·伯纳姆宣布对不定刑期进行新一轮审查，作为其减少监狱人口计划的一部分。审查一项14年前就已废除的刑罚，似乎有些卡夫卡式。究竟还有什么可审查的？我们都知道IPP是错误的——它们已不再被判处，而服刑者应被重新量刑。一份又一份审查都这么说。难道直接立法实现这一点不是更有意义吗？