March 2, 2013
iPolitics Canada – Blogger Irwin Cotler
Policy Should Not Mistake the Mentally Ill for Criminals
Cotler, MP for Mount Royal, suggests that Bill C-54 is missing the crux of the problem altogether. Rather than change – unnecessarily and without any real advantage based on the numbers – the way we deal with NCR, Cotler wants early intervention to avoid violent criminal acts. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/irwin-cotler/bill-c-54_b_2790342.html
Salem News.com (Oregon) – Kevin “Rashid” Johnson
Oregon Prisoners Driven to Suicide by Torture in Solitary Confinement Units
The author, a prisoner and an inmate in the Disciplinary Segregation Unit in Oregon’s Snake River Correctional Institution, describes the impact on a fellow prisoner. The DSU, says Johnson, deliberately uses sensory depravation to effect behaviour modification. http://www.salem-news.com/articles/february282013/prison-torture-krj.php
Winnipeg Free Press – Mia Rabson
Longer murder terms urged – Manitoba MP’s bill says up to 40 years
From Selkirk-Interlake, Conservative MP James Bezan wants the criminal code changed to allow a minimum of 40 years in jail for convicted rapists and murderers. The rational seems more about confronting alleged parole practices and pain caused victims of crime at parole hearings. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/longer-murder-terms-urged-194136561.html#sthash.qTscYuWJ.dpuf
Globe and Mail
The costs of double-bunking
The impact of double bunking has to do with increased costs, increased violence, less health care and education, less vocational training, and fewer programs. All these eventual added costs go with $630 million price tag on 2700 new cells and a current annual cost of $113,000 per federal inmate. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/editorials/the-costs-of-double-bunking/article9174166/?cmpid=rss1
Toronto Star – Insight Jim Rankin and Patty Winsa
Unequal Justice: Mother, sons sucked into criminal justice system
The article reviews the struggle of one family with the youth justice and criminal justice systems – a single mom and two boys – to cope and interface. The context for the article is the Roots of Youth Violence Report (Roy McMurtry and Alvin Curling from 2006). http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2013/03/01/unequal_justice_mother_sons_sucked_into_criminal_justice_system.html
Roots of Youth Violence full report: http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/youthandthelaw/roots/index.aspx
Orillia Packet Times – Sara Ross
Students learn about restorative justice
FACE (Forums of Accountability in Circle Experiences), a volunteer agency in Orillia, has joined with Georgian College to offer training in RJ circles of accountability. Using a mock RJ forum, and over a three day conference, the students also learn to apply the principles to family conflict. http://www.orilliapacket.com/2013/03/01/students-learn-about-restorative-justice
Blogger Lorenn Walker
Restorative justice for making plea bargains
One of the RJ facilitators involved in the Grosmaire case and its spin-offs, Walker is focused in this article on the use of RJ as part of the plea bargaining process for serious crime – when the accused accepts to plead guilty and the focus is sentencing. http://www.lorennwalker.com/blog/?p=142
The Hill – Blogger Ruthie Epstein
Detention centers releases may have silver lining
Human Rights First Refuge Rights senior associate Epstein thinks that the flaws are coming through the system. “It wastes money while costing the US its values,” she says. Many detainees pose no threat to public safety and have no criminal history, she says. http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/homeland-security/285515-detention-centers-releases-may-have-silver-lining
Huffington Post
5 Reasons To Release Most Immigrant Detainees
The furor in the US about the sequester forcing the release of immigration detainees because there is no money (variously estimated between $114 – $164 per day) to cover the cost brings to the surface these five reasons why the decision to release makes sense. The article also raises six common misconceptions about border security. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/01/5-reasons-to-release-most-immigrant-detainees_n_2792695.html#slide=more284054
University of Connecticut
UConn Researchers Impacting Mental Health Treatment in Prison Population
UConn researches led by Dr. Robert Trestman have three new aids for treating mental illness in prisons: a program called Start Now, some refinements in the medication to treat bi-polar disorder and an evidence based assessment tool to diagnose mental disorder on admission to prison. http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2013/03/uconn-researchers-impacting-mental-health-treatment-in-prison-population