C-36: More SCC to come?

   June 7, 2014

National Newswatch – Don Lenihan
Prostitution and the politics of justice 

 Lenihan, and most experts agree that the new prostitution laws will wind up challenged in court and that Peter MacKay has known the laws will not pass muster.  Some think the laws are about the supremacy of parliament over judges.  Lenihan thinks the laws are about politics, about posturing,  not principles nor justice, and that the government is content let someone else eventually clean up their mess.  MacKay continues to refuse to release a second and adverse poll after a first survey with what Lenihan thinks were loaded questions.  http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2014/06/07/prostitution-and-the-politics-of-justice/#.U5MvRiiAOWM  Related article: National Post – John Ivison   Harper pitched new prostitution bill to caucus as a compromise despite staunch social conservative opposition   http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/06/06/john-ivison-harper-pitched-new-prostitution-bill-to-caucus-as-a-compromise-despite-staunch-social-conservative-opposition  Related article:  Canada.com – Paula Simons, Edmonton Journal   ‘It’s going to be a disaster’ — Peter MacKay’s proposed prostitution law defies the court and common sense   http://www.canada.com/news/edmonton/Simons+going+disaster+Peter+MacKay+proposed+prostitution/9915943/story.html   Related article:  Globe and Mail   – Margaret Wente   Who really speaks for sex workers?   http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/who-really-speaks-for-sex-workers/article19012903  

 Toronto Star – Editorial
Ottawa’s crackdown on the sex trade fails the victims

 The effect of the new proposed prostitution law (Bill C-36) will be to endanger sex workers even more than before and to make the sale of sex in a public place illegal.  Calling the response to the SCC’s objections to the old laws “boneheaded,” the Star quotes Katerina Pacey, a Vancouver lawyer for Pivot Legal Society :   All this will have a “devastating impact on sex workers’ safety.  More women will end up working in the shadows, be slapped into jail, go missing or be murdered.”  Critics suggest that unless the government refers the law for prior ruling to the SCC, the matter is likely to wind its way through lower courts and then back to the SCC. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2014/06/04/ottawas_crackdown_on_the_sex_trade_fails_the_victims_editorial.html    Related article:  Toronto Star – Tonda MacCharles   NDP joins call for Tories to refer prostitution bill to Supreme Court      http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/06/05/ndp_joins_call_for_tories_to_refer_prostitution_bill_to_supreme_court.html   Related article:  Globe and Mail –  Anqi Shen   8 arrested on human trafficking charges  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/8-arrested-on-human-trafficking-charges/article19058518 

 Chronicle Herald News (Halifax, NS) – Kelly Shiers
Speaking from experience: Margaret Trudeau on mental illness 

 “I am bipolar,” Margaret Trudeau told the audience at a Halifax Conference sponsored by the Centre for Women in Business. “I will be bipolar for the rest of my life, because there’s no cure for it.”  The first step, she says, is acceptance and the second is the courage to take the first step into treatment.  Trudeau now travels the country, an advocate for confronting both mental illness and the stigma still attached,  encouraging people to realize there are new treatments available.  http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1212979-speaking-from-experience-margaret-trudeau-on-mental-illness 

 Market Wired

CEC Teams With Leading Retailer and Research Scientist to Discuss Positive Impact of Restorative Justice Programs at Upcoming NRF LP Conference and Expo 

 RJ practices are becoming good corporate commercial retail practices now too.  Loss prevention and stock shrinkage due to shoplifting is a major problem for all retailers.  Given that the traditional justice system does not deal well with the problems and the costs continue to rise, Corrective Education Company (CEC) offers retailers restorative justice programs as a cost effective alternative.  “Restorative Justice – The Impact on Retail Efficiency, Recidivism & Shrink” will be presented at the National Retail Federation Loss Prevention Conference & Expo this year.  http://wolverton.ca/cec-teams-with-leading-retailer-and-research-scientist-to-discuss-positive-impact-of-restorative-justice-programs-at-upcoming-nrf-lp-conference-and-expo  Related article:  Market Wired –  Burlington Coat Factory Expands Deployment of Corrective Education Company’s Restorative Justice Education Program   http://www.4-traders.com/news/Burlington-Coat-Factory-Expands-Deployment-of-Corrective-Education-Companys-Restorative-Justice-Edu–18553051 

 Mother Jones – Shane Bauer

Solitary in Iran Nearly Broke Me. Then I Went Inside America’s Prisons 

 Bauer, a journalist who spent 26 months in an Iranian jail, held incommunicado and in solitary, visited one of the famous SHU’s (Security Housing Unit) at Pelican Bay in California where over half of the inmates have spent five years or more in solitary.  The extended description of life in a SHU is chilling and determined by arbitrary criteria, leaving a sense of utterly unwarranted cruelty to fellow human beings.  (UN criteria suggests the maximum time in solitary without mental injury is two weeks.  Note that Bauer’s article is four pages and you must click to subsequent pages.)  http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/10/solitary-confinement-shane-bauer  

 Cronkite News (US) – Aubree Abril

Court agrees inmates’ class-action suit over prison health care can proceed 

 A federal appeals court has agreed that a lawsuit against the Arizona state prison system for denial of appropriate health care to inmates can go ahead.  The appellate ruling approved a lower court’s certification of a class action lawsuit by inmates saying:  “inmates had supported their claims with “hundreds” of documents and statements, and that the lawsuit should continue as a class-action suit on behalf of all current or future inmates of the Arizona prison system.”  http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2014/06/court-agrees-inmates-class-action-suit-over-prison-health-care-can-proceed   Related article:   L.A. Times    Los Angeles jails violate prisoners’ constitutional rights due to poor mental health services, Justice Department review says   http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20140606/los-angeles-county-jails-fall-short-in-suicide-prevention-mental-health-services-justice-department-review-says    Related article:  Wall Street Journal    Joe Palazzolo   Colorado Becomes Latest to Back Ban on Solitary Confinement of Mentally Ill  http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-550009    Related article:  California News –  Los Angeles jails violate prisoners’ constitutional rights due to poor mental health services, Justice Department review says    http://newsinca.com/los-angeles-jails-violate-prisoners-constitutional-rights-due-to-poor-mental-health-services-justice-department-review-says