Home visits temper justice with mercy

SPRING FESTIVAL is traditionally a time for family reunions, and four prisons in Shanghai are allowing 10 inmates to visit their families from Thursday to Sunday. Beijing News comments:

Shanghai is only one of the cities allowing prisoners to go home for Spring Festival. In Southwest China's Sichuan province, an estimated 260 prisoners are being allowed to go home. In Anhui, three prisons have taken similar measures.

Their moves are legal. According to the Prison Law that came into effect in December 1994, prisons can allow prisoners to go home for family reunions under certain conditions. However, that practice was suspended in 2005 because the risks of prisoners fleeing were high at that time.