April 19, 2013
The Globe and Mail BC Polling Analysis: Mario Canseco
British Columbians are deeply dissatisfied with justice system
In the light of the coming BC election, Canseco does an analysis of the candidates and their posture on crime and justice, including the immediate history. He gives an edge to the NDP on five justice issues. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/british-columbians-are-deeply-dissatisfied-with-justice-system/article11361912
Victoria News
One day sentence extended to two years for Tracy Dawn Smith
Smith was convicted of a 2011 death while intoxicated and driving a motorcycle. Given the circumstances, the one day sentence and three years probation along with her access to treatment in a recovery house probably made more rehabilitative sense. http://www.vicnews.com/news/203466921.html Link to original sentencing: http://www.vicnews.com/news/182459132.html
PS News – Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
New AHRC guide sets detention standards
Directed to monitors of immigration detention facilities, the document establishes the standards to be invoked when Australia ratified the new Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).” This protocol is coming from the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The full 56 page document in PDF: http://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/HR_standards_immigration_detention%20%284%29.pdf
Record Net – Reed Fujii
Pressed for time – Work on the 1.2M-square-foot prison health care facility in Stockton is proceeding rapidly ahead of July opening
California has been locked in dispute with the Supreme Court over the treatment of the mentally ill in prison. This new facility is labelled a health care facility but also identified as a prison facility. It may introduce a new notion for prisons and perhaps some challenge to the notion that the mentally ill do not belong in prison. http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130418/A_NEWS/304180327/-1/A_NEWS02
Old Orchard Beach Courier (Maine) – Ben Meiklejohn
RSU program changes way it disciplines
The Maine state Juvenile Justice Advisory Group has gotten over $83,000 to put in place an alternative discipline model for School District 23. Maine State Police Sergeant Jonathan Shapiro, who helped launch the program, says: “In a restorative model, rather than retributive, the victim is up front and heard, at the center of focus, not the offender. The reality is, this process is more difficult; you have to face your victim and make it right.” http://courier.mainelymediallc.com/news/2013-04-18/News/RSU_program_changes_way_it_disciplines.html Related Story on RJ for Youth from Cleveland: Restorative justice scheme for young offenders proving to be a success for Cleveland Police http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/10361819.Restorative_justice_scheme_for_young_offenders_proving_to_be_a_success_for_Cleveland_Police
Toronto Star – David Bruser and Jayme Poisson
A gun broker’s prison email: ‘These weren’t your everyday schoolgirls’
Terrance Coles is serving 15 years for gun running using young girls as ‘mules.’ This is the second part of the Star’s story on the gun pipeline from the US. http://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2013/04/18/heres_what_detroit_gun_broker_terrance_coles_had_to_say_from_prison.html
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime:
First comprehensive UNODC study on transnational organized crime threats in East Asia and the Pacific
The United Nations estimates that crime originating from Asia and the Pacific is netting $90 billion (US) per year. The contraband includes human trafficking, narcotics, counterfeit goods, and environmentally sensitive items. Press release and full PDF report on Asia and Pacific criminal activities: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2013/April/first-comprehensive-unodc-study-on-transnational-organized-crime-threats-in-east-asia-and-the-pacific.html?ref=fs1
Community Cares (Scotland)
How one social worker’s trip to Minnesota could improve criminal justice in Scotland
Nic Middlemiss, a social worker in justice work, won a few thousand pounds grant for travel to see significant developments in operation and decided to go to the National Alliance on Mental Health in Minnesota where the agency runs a diversion, rehabilitation and release program for prisoners with mental health issues. http://www.communitycare.co.uk/articles/17/04/2013/119105/how-one-social-workers-trip-to-minnesota-could-improve-criminal-justice-in-scotland.htm
Employment Screening Resource (ERS) (US) – Tom Ahearn
Workplace Violence Rate Against Government Employees Three Times Greater than Private Sector Workers
The author is using Bureau of Justice Statistics to suggest that a government employee – at any level of government – is three times more likely to a victim of workplace violence. http://www.esrcheck.com/wordpress/2013/04/17/workplace-violence-rate-against-government-employees-three-times-greater-than-private-sector-workers Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics link for full report: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/wvage9411.pdf