March 7, 2013
Canadian Medical Association Journal – Editorial by Ken Flegel, MDCM MSc, and Françoise Bouchard, MD MPH
Let us get prison health care out of jail
There are 14,000 federal prisoners and 24,000 in provincial prisons and remand centers. According to the authors: “Management of chronic diseases and mental health disorders, preventive care, continuity of care, and transfer or release planning may often get neglected. Specialty care usually involves travel or transfer to the public system in an unplanned way… What is desperately needed is a well-organized and coordinated system of health care, one that follows the offender from the start of his or her incarceration to release and successful return to the community.” http://www.cmaj.ca/content/185/4/281
Public Safety Canada – 2012 statistics available
Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview
http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cor/rep/2012-ccrso-eng.aspx
CTV News
Report to show aboriginal prison population has risen to 23 per cent
A report from Howard Sapers, the Correctional Investigator, due today (March 7, 2013) is expected to show a substantial increase in the number of Aboriginals in the prison population over the last ten years. Only 4% of the general population, Aboriginals are now 23% of the prison population, up from 14%. Sapers is expected to add that only modest progress has been made in alternate justice and that the re-offender rate is also high. http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/report-to-show-aboriginal-prison-population-has-risen-to-23-per-cent-1.1184973#ixzz2MraIMLey
CBC News – Regina, SK
Violent gang ritual video spurs Regina teacher to find victim
A teacher stumbled across an on-line video of a gang initiation involving a severe beating of one of her former students. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2013/03/06/sk-gang-initiation-video-130306.html
Arizona Republic – Cecilia Chan
Arizona prisoner health lawsuit gets class-action status
A U.S. District judge has granted class action status to a lawsuit against the state of Arizona for unconstitutional denial to prisoners of the rights to health care. http://www.azcentral.com/news/state/articles/20130306arizona-prisoner-lawsuit-class-action-status-abrk.html?nclick_check=1
Mennonite Central Committee – Canada – Lucas Klassen
From gang member to fervent apostle of redemption through restorative justice
Once a gang member, now a bishop, South African Eugene van Kramberg is working hard at RJ approaches to stop the kind of criminal activity of which he was once a part. http://mcccanada.ca/stories/news/gang-member-fervent-apostle-redemption-through-restorative-justice
Center for Children’s Law and Policy (US) – Jason Szanyi
Innovation Brief: Partnering with Schools to Reduce Juvenile Justice Referrals
A four page downloadable pdf on how one school in Illinois reduced the referrals to the criminal justice system. http://www.modelsforchange.net/publications/349 Read some more: We are the System – Retired Justice George Timberlake http://jjie.org/system/105964
Los Angeles Times – Paige St. John
California suppressed consultant’s report on inmate suicides
The suppressed document is one in which a consultant says that the suicide watch prevention program actually encourages suicide. http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/28/local/la-me-ff-prisons-20130228
International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) (US)
Bullying and Restorative Practices
IIRP in partnership with the Bethlehem Pa School District makes available a five minute PBS report on the work at two large local high schools. http://blog.iirp.edu/2013/03/sunday-video-bullying-and-restorative-practices/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sunday-video-bullying-and-restorative-practices&utm_source=Restorative+Practices+eForum+Weekly+Highlights%3A+March+6%2C+2013&utm_campaign=eForum+Weekly+highlights+February+7%2C+2013&utm_medium=email
Tom Flanagan and mandatory minimums
Smart Justice Network is happy to provide the links below on the controversy around Flanagan’s recent child pornography remarks. Flanagan seems to refute mandatory minimums.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/tom-flanagan-says-he-was-trapped-into-child-porn-comments-1.1180824
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/03/06/tom-flanagan-2009-child-_n_2812103.html