The Sentencing Project

February 28, 2013

 The Sentencing Project (Washington, DC – US) – Marc Mauer
The Changing Racial Dynamics of Women’s Incarceration

The study looks at the changing racial characteristics of women sentenced to prison from 2000-2009: about half as many Black women, almost double the number of white women and about 23% increase for Latino women.  http://sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_Changing%20Racial%20Dynamics%202013.pdf

 CBC News – Thunder Bay, ON
Restorative justice essential for First Nations, lawyer says.  Legal service hopes report on First Nations representation on Ontario juries will help

Nishnawbe Aski Legal Services are agreed that the mainstream legal system is failing Aboriginal people and is hopeful that the Iacobucci report will lead to increased reliance on RJ.  Mary Jean Robinson, a lawyer with the legal services says that “restorative justice is extremely underfunded.”  She added that it appears more money is spent by the government on flying lawyers and judges into remote First Nations and flying people out to jail.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/story/2013/02/28/tby-first-nations-lawyer-thunderbay-jury-report-reaction.html

 Ohio State University – Kirwin Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
State of the Science: Implicit Bias Review 2013

The 104 page report looks at the practice of bias in education, health care, and the criminal justice system, including the courts.  This report starts with the perspective of “a new body of science called “implicit social cognition” (ISC). This field focuses on mental processes that affect social judgments but operate without conscious awareness or conscious control.” http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/docs/SOTS-Implicit_Bias.pdf

University of Manitoba – Robson Hall, Faculty of Law
Ending the Isolation: An International Conference on Human Rights and Solitary Confinement

Recent events in Canada as well as internationally have raised the issue of human rights and the practice of solitary confinement.  The conference (March 22, 23 in Winnipeg) features several experts well known to the SJN audience: Michael Jackson (UBC), Justin Piche (University of Ottawa, Kim Pate of Elizabeth Fry, Debra Parkes of University of Manitoba Faculty of Law.  Register / more information at: http://law.robsonhall.ca/events/icalrepeat.detail/2013/03/22/615/-/ending-the-isolation-an-international-conference-on-solitary-confinement-and-human-rights

 Manchester Evening News (UK)
Community court set to go on trial

Community court is called Redeeming Our Communities and is a ten member panel drawn from the community to confront low level crime using a RJ approach.  Seen as the community dealing with its own problems, the court scheme is spreading following the assessment.  http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/restorative-justice-scheme–run-1424511

 San Francisco Appeal (California)
SF Jail Unveils”Reentry Pod”

San Francisco Country Jail system has accepted from the state prison system to work with low level non-violent offenders about to be released and preparing for re-entry.  http://sfappeal.com/news/2013/02/sf-jail-unveilsreentry-pod.php

The Nation (US) – Lee Fang
How Private Prisons Game the Immigration System

The recent furor in the US about the release of detainees by the ICE and Homeland security needs the perspective offered by this article on who wins and who loses.  Guess who wins if an immigration reform bill contains increased security measures which result in more detainees?  http://www.thenation.com/article/173120/how-private-prisons-game-immigration-system#

 Prison Reform International – February 2013 Newsletter

The PRI Newsletter is an excellent resource for the international perspective on many of the issues facing us in Canada.  Children, human rights, torture, women in prison are just some of the issues examined in this well-linked international forum. http://www.penalreform.org/#  To sign up for their free e-news bulletin http://www.penalreform.org/e-news-bulletin