Tony Blair started it. We thought he was only half-joking when in 2001 he proposed that drunken young men who engaged in antisocial behaviour should be frogmarched to the nearest cash machine to atone for their misdemeanours by way of an on-the-spot fine.
It would have been a classic example of summary justice had the idea been adopted literally.
But, taking Blair's lead, the justice system developed the principle and the number of fixed-penalty notices for disorder rose from 1,000 in 2001 to 500,000 in 2006. All this at a time when crime is down and prison numbers up.
Allied to this is the mushrooming of Asbos handed to young people.
With 1,000 young people jailed on average for six months for breaching their Asbos between 2000 and 2006, it is hardly surprising that Rod Morgan, the former Youth Justice Board chair, is concerned.
He has described the use of the array of summary justice solutions, including fixed penalty notices and cautions, as "overzealous".
Crucially, he fears that young people are being criminalised when informal sanctions would be more effective.
It is unlikely that these would include a clip round the ear from a member of Her Majesty's finest, but it is stating the obvious that people who end up in the criminal system at an early age have a battle to escape from it.
Having a criminal record as a teenager - even for a breach of an Asbo - is unlikely to win over many employers. In itself, that rejection may tempt some into crime through desperation, with the inevitable return to prison if caught.
In any case, it is a life lived on the margins of society.
The Ministry of Justice's solution is simple: don't break the law.
Another solution is: don't lock up young people, or adults come to that, for behaviour that isn't criminal.
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