January 28, 2013
CBC News
Mom furious that girl, 12, jailed among adults
A Newfoundland youth advocate says: “putting a minor in police cells for 11 days is excessive.” The 12 year old was held 11 days in police cells before being brought from Corner Brook on the west coast to Whitborne on the Avalon Peninsula. After pleading guilty to assault with a weapon, the girl was sentenced to 12 months probation. When the girl appeared in court before being released into the custody of parents, she had self-inflicted cuts on her arms, evidence of stress and anxiety while in custody but apparently not noticed by her guards. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2013/01/27/nl-system-failed-girl-128.html
CTV News
Guard allowed to resign after charges dropped in Ashley Smith’s choking death
CSC Guard Blaine Phibbs was at first charged with criminal negligence causing the death of Ashley Smith and later had the charges dropped. Though fired earlier, he was allowed to resign after charges were dropped due to non-disclosure of key documents by CSC. “Corrections paid him time and a half or double time for the thousands of hours he had been off work in the 18 months after the tragedy. He also received $25,000 to go back to school and career counselling. In exchange, the inquest heard, he was never to tell anyone what had happened.” http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/guard-allowed-to-resign-after-charges-dropped-in-ashley-smith-s-choking-death-1.1132868#ixzz2JJ8AoIjT
Houston Chronicle – Billy Smith
A Human Tragedy: The stories of 24 exonerees who spent years in Texas prisons for crimes they didn’t commit.
This story is told by a photo essay with added commentary on the stories of these people, the growing problem of false conviction, and the project itself. http://www.chron.com/exonerees
Toronto Star – Editorial
Kinew James’s death another sign of broken prison system
“Five years after Ashley Smith choked herself to death in a Kitchener prison while her guards watched, the inquiry into the teenage inmate’s troubling treatment at the hands of the Correctional Service of Canada continues. In the meantime, another life appears to have been needlessly lost in a federal jail for women.” http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/1320758–kinew-james-s-death-another-sign-of-broken-prison-system-editorial
CBC News
Canada’s richest 1% getting richer
Guess what? The number of women now included in the top 1% has almost doubled in constant 2010 dollars, says the latest Stats Canada offering. The cut-off in 2010 was just over $200,000, itself a 37% increase over 10 years before. “The top one per cent of Canada’s 25.5 million tax filers accounted for 10.6 per cent of the nation’s total income in 2010.” http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/01/28/business-tax-high-income.html CTV News – http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/canada-s-richest-1-rake-in-one-tenth-of-country-s-income-1.1132337
CantonRep.com (Ohio) – Will Cooley
Bring back CIRV: ‘Call-in’ gives gangs a clear message that violence must stop
Cooley calls for a return to Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV). Once dramatically successful in reducing homicides, the ceasefire tactic lost its funding, disbanded and the rates increased again. http://www.cantonrep.com/newsnow/x1922397948/Bring-back-CIRV-Call-in-gives-gangs-a-clear-message-that-violence-must-stop
Streetlife.com (UK) – Stephen Moore
Westminster youths join European teens in pioneering anti-gangs project
To be launched next month, teens from the UK, Spain and Italy are joining forces electronically to design gang awareness programs. Funded by the European Commission’s Justice Department, the young people are in the driver’s seat and will produce anti-gang material using various media. http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/court-crime/westminster_youths_join_european_teens_in_pioneering_anti_gangs_project_1_1830325