May 13, 2014
CBC News
“Miscarriage of justice:” the trial of Donald Kushniruk
This is yet another story of minor confrontation between a mentally ill person and police. It resulted in a seven day sentence that went to 2 ½ years before it ended. Re-arrested later, he committed suicide while still in custody. Donald Kushniruk’s encounter with the criminal justice system that led to his death reads like a comedy of errors. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/miscarriage-of-justice-the-trial-of-donald-kushniruk-1.2639306
CBC News
UN report on Canada’s treatment of aboriginal people in spotlight Monday
UN special rapporteur James Anaya offers a grim picture of government inactivity that suggests that nothing has changed in the relations between the Aboriginal communities and the federal government. “From all I have learned, I can only conclude that Canada faces a crisis when it comes to the situation of indigenous peoples of the country,” the UN fact-finder said last October.” http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/un-report-on-canada-s-treatment-of-aboriginal-people-in-spotlight-monday-1.2638988 CBC News – Susana Mas Canada‘s aboriginal well-being efforts ‘insufficient,’ UN envoy says (7 minute video interview with James Anaya of the UN) http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-s-aboriginal-well-being-efforts-insufficient-un-envoy-says-1.2639509
Psychiatric News – American Psychiatric Association (US)
Prisons, Jails Said to Need More, Better MH Treatment
The newsletter item details the problems of delivering psychiatric services to over 350,000 inmates in US jails. Dr. Fuller Torrey of the Treatment Advocacy Center in Arlington, Va., who led in this state by state study compiled with the support of the National Sheriffs Association, thinks it’s time to recognize that “it is a situation that is grossly unfair to both the inmates and the corrections officials and should be the subject of public outrage and official action.” http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=1872609 Full report (116 page downloadable pdf) The Treatment of Persons with Mental Illness in Prisons and Jails: A State Survey http://www.tacreports.org/storage/documents/treatment-behind-bars/treatment-behind-bars.pdf
iPolitics.com – Hattie Klotz
Ontario autism care access in balance as human rights case opens
The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal is considering a case in which a severely autistic child on Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) was also discovered to suffer from global development disability (GDD) and by reason of the second diagnosis was cut from the initial treatment as well. There are between 30,000 and 35,000 autistic children in Ontario. The lawsuit says that the child is discriminated against because of a disability, the GDD. Access to treatment, inconsistent across the province, is the underlying issue. http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/05/12/ontario-autism-care-access-in-balance-as-human-rights-case-opens
Canadian Law Times – Yamri Taddese
Lawyers offer contrarian view on sentencing laws
Two Bennett and Jones LLP lawyers, Lincoln Caylor and Gannon Beaulne, have written a paper criticizing the practices of judges to refuse to accept mandatory minimums and to order lesser sentences. While not defending the actual mandatory minimums, the two lawyers are suggesting that judges who disagree should resign, run for parliament and change the law, not defy the law. http://www.lawtimesnews.com/201405123963/headline-news/lawyers-offer-contrarian-view-on-sentencing-laws?utm_source=responsys&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CLNewswire_20140512
Independent Voices (Britain) – Editorial
The Tories’ intervention on sentencing for knife crime shows that criminal justice is becoming too politicised
Suggesting that the instinct of the politician is to exploit whatever the current scare, the phenomenon is likely in Canada as well. Like Britain, knife crimes are becoming more commonplace than a gun. But this editorial is also suggesting that the fudges and the courts have amply means already at their disposition that nuances to the criminal code around knives is simply not needed and instead reflects the effort for political gain. http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/editorials/the-tories-intervention-on-sentencing-for-knife-crime-shows-that-criminal-justice-is-becoming-too-politicised-9356435.html