July 9, 2014
Reclaim Justice Network: (UK)
The penal industrial complex: who benefits?
This British Network is in the process of identifying who benefits and how from a policy that encourages incarceration as a response to crime. The list is comprehensive and lacking, for us, only the business of providing telephone services to inmates. The tendency towards increasing privatization is included in various sectors. The view is that of a developing ‘prison industrial complex.’ https://downsizingcriminaljustice.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/the-penal-industrial-complex1.pdf
Huffington Post (US) – Heather Ann Thompson
Dodging Decarceration: The Shell Game of ‘Getting Smart’ on Crime
For some time now, there have been reports of a reversal in the practice of mass incarceration and a decline in the number of people imprisoned. Thompson cautions that we may be entirely premature in celebrating ‘getting smart’ on crime when we look at the fluctuations that are interpreted as decline and at the continuing immigration practices and the limited legal recourses in the face of mandatory minimums. She offers a sobering reflection for the optimists in suggesting that the heart of the problem is not in mass incarceration but in excessive policing and private profiteering. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heather-ann-thompson/dodging-decarceration-the_b_5485361.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
Globe and Mail – Jeffrey Simpson
A government obsessed with image – 24 Seven
Did you know that Prime Minister Harper has his own show called 24 Seven? Simpson says it is at tax payers expense, adding to the considerable amount already spent on federal government advertising, and it is relatively easy to access on the prime minister’s web page; you can subscribe as well. Each episode stars the prime minister and various cameo appearances from other ministers. Nothing is spontaneous, everything is scripted, and an obvious advantage is that the 24 Seven allows the government to by-pass established media. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/a-government-obsessed-with-image-24-seven/article19512158 24 Seven Webpage: http://pm.gc.ca/eng/24seven
National Newswatch – Mike Blanchfield, Canadian Press
$20M paltry for prostitutes, hearings told
The number revealed by the federal government to assist prostitutes to leave the practice is in fact a five year figure and to be split between the various provincial jurisdictions in Canada. That revelation effectively says there is little or no help intended to help MacKay’s aspirational goal of ending prostitution in Canada. “From our perspective, $20 million is peanuts,” said Michele Audette, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, a sentiment echoed by Calgary Police Chief Rick Hansen. Hansen thinks that Calgary’s share would be $125,000 and called it “woefully inadequate.” http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2014/07/08/20m-to-curb-prostitution-not-enough-chief/#.U71TT7GAOWN Related article: CBC News – Laura Peyton Prostitution laws: 7 voices from the field – Former sex workers, advocates, lawyers tell their stories to MPs on justice committee this week http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/prostitution-laws-7-voices-from-the-field-1.2700160 Related article: Toronto Star – Tim Harper Peter MacKay’s utopian goal obscures prostitution reality http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/07/08/peter_mackays_utopian_goal_obscures_prostitution_reality_tim_harper.html
Toronto Star – Les Whittington
Conservatives dismantling social programs built over generations
The article includes an interactive map with agencies (with links) who have been defunded or seen major cuts in services, human rights and social programming long established and valued by Canadians. The reporting is astounding by its breath and the depth of the cuts endured in eight years of the current federal government, all in the middle of considerable unemployment, especially for youth, and a widening income inequality gap. Read on! http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/12/09/conservatives_dismantling_social_programs_built_over_generations.html Related article: Toronto Star Editorial (June 22, 2014) Canadian families desperately need a national child-care program http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2014/06/22/canadian_families_desperately_need_a_national_childcare_program_editorial.html
Edmonton Journal –
Inmate’s death after 162 days of segregation ruled a suicide
Keeping in mind that the UN defines anything length beyond two weeks in solitary as cruel and dangerous to mental health, this Edmonton case has already prompted comparison with the Ashley Smith case. 24 year old Edward Snowshoe of Fort McPherson, N.W.T., died on Aug. 13, 2010. “He had spent 134 days in segregation at the Stony Mountain Institution in Manitoba after brandishing a weapon made from a juice box. As a result, he was transferred to the maximum security Edmonton Institution, and immediately placed in segregation for another 28 days.” Judge James K. Wheatley wants some measures to ensure that reviews of solitary happen. (cf as well communiqué for June 30 – Safety in jail.) http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/edmonton/Inmate+death+after+days+segregation+ruled+suicide/10012378/story.html