Children in detention

December 20, 2012

CBC News:

Detention centres no place for migrant children, critics argue – Canada out of step with push to keep migrant children out of detention centres

Many Canadians may be surprised to learn that the Canadian government does imprison children – 289 minors this year alone, held in immigration detention with their parents.  Described by Minister Jason Kenny as “a last resort,” almost half of the children are under the age of 10 years.  Dr. Richard Stanwick, president of the Canadian Paediatric Society, told CBC’s Diana Swain that children in detention can suffer lasting effects.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/12/13/detention-children-canada.html  

University of Manitoba: Faculty of Law

Human Rights and Solitary Confinement Conference – March 22-23, 2013

“Ending the Isolation: An international  conference on human rights and solitary confinement” will bring together academics, advocates, and human rights workers from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia to shed light on and critique the growing use of solitary confinement in prisons and other places of detention. Confirmed speakers include David Fathi (American Civil Liberties Union), Michael Jackson (University of British Columbia), Sharon Shalev (Oxford University, UK), Kim Pate (Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies), Kelly Hannah-Moffat (University of Toronto), Bree Carlton (Monash University, Aus), Ivan Zinger (Office of the Correctional Investigator) and a number of others. The conference website is still under development but it will have registration info posted soon at http://law.robsonhall.ca/events/icalrepeat.detail/2013/03/22/615/-/ending-the-isolation-an-international-conference-on-solitary-confinement-and-human-rights. 

CBC NEWS – Prince Edward Island

Lawyer supports court for addicted/mentally ill

“I think most people who work in the criminal justice system recognize that we’re not doing a very good job at getting at the root of what creates criminal activity,” said Summerside lawyer Trish Cheverie, a public defender.  Ms Cheverie thinks such a court could help stop the revolving door model of justice, stemming from mental illness and addictions. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2012/12/19/pei-cheverie-therapeutic-court-584.html 

Entrevestor:  Daniel Boltinsky

Contest win sparks social venture plans for student

Green Trade’s Peter Goggin who mixes entrepreneurship and prison reform has partnered with John Howard of New Brunswick in an innovative plan “to train ex-convicts, recovering addicts and other people with few career options in sustainable retrofitting, which means fixing up existing buildings to improve their efficiency and environmental sustainability.”  The program is part of the University of New Brunswick’s Pond-Deshpande Centre. http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/269305-entrevestor-contest-win-sparks-social-venture-plans-for-student

 Prison Reform Trust (UK) –
Two significant gains for justice reform in the UK during the year

This coalition claims significant progress in the area of sentence planning around learning disabled individuals.  In the face of a new policy statute in the New Year, supporters of women’s justice reforms have added an amendment to the statute requiring special attention to the position of women in the justice system.  http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter (NB The December 2012 is not yet on their web page but should be shortly) Home Page: www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk

 TVO – Blogger Sandra Gionas
Newtown, the Media and Mental Illness

The author, the TVO producer of the Agenda series on Criminal Justice and the Mentally Ill, offers some reflections on the Newtown shootings last week.   http://theagenda.tvo.org/blog/agenda-blogs/newtown-media-and-mental-illness

 Examiner.com (US)
Mother of mentally ill boy understands what it is like to be Adam Lanza’s mother

Told that the only way to get the help her son and family desperately needs is to create a criminal paper trail, Lisa Long has a thirteen year old son with an undiagnosed mental illness that sometimes brings violent episodes, endangering his siblings and others. http://www.examiner.com/article/mother-of-mentally-ill-boy-understands-what-it-is-like-to-be-adam-lanza-s-mother Huffington Post story: “I am Adam Lanca’s mother.”  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother-mental-illness-conversation_n_2311009.html

Nova Scotia Government –
Building Bridges: Improving care in custody for people living with mental illness

This report is an update (December 2012) on a report and series of recommendations by Judge Anne Derrick following the death of Mr. Howard Hyde.  The original report Together We Can  (2010) is available at www.gov.ns.ca/health/mhs/reports/together_we_can.pdf . The update includes comments on the use of force and supports within the criminal justice system.  https://www.gov.ns.ca/just/global_docs/Hyde_Report_Response.pdf

Winnipeg Sun – Tom Brodbeck
Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson backs Gladue racist sentencing laws

The author proposed scrapping the Gladue principle regarding sentencing of Aboriginal offenders.  It appears that the written reply from Nicholson was less than what he had hoped for, if not an endorsement of Gladue.  http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/12/15/federal-justice-minister-rob-nicholson-backs-gladue-racist-sentencing-laws