July 11, 2014
Straight.com – Travis Lupick
Statistics reveal Canadian prisons becoming more violent places
Lupick based his stats and understanding on conversation with Howard Sapers, the Correctional Investigator who conceded that violence has been increasing for some time as has the number of inmates needing mental health treatment but not getting it. Instead of treatment says Sapers, prisons rely on security measures and segregation or solitary. Jennifer Metcalfe, the executive director of the West Coast Prison Justice Society, says that CSC is failing inmates with mental illness. http://www.straight.com/news/681501/statistics-reveal-canadian-prisons-becoming-more-violent-places
CTV News –
N.L. justice minister worried future prison violence could be deadly
Originally built in 1859, Her Majesty’s Penitentiary, a minimum security provincial prison, has 175 capacity, and though currently only at 145, the prison is rife with drugs and tensions, with a recent history of violence. The prison is scheduled to be replaced but the new facility is slow coming and even now only at the architectural design stage. http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/n-l-justice-minister-worried-future-prison-violence-could-be-deadly-1.1909650#ixzz37BSBPxUK
Globe and Mail – Gary Mason
Edward Snowshoe’s death should concern us all
Calling the circumstances surrounding Snowshoe’s life and imprisonment “ugly,” Mason tells about three previous attempts at suicide in prison and a solitary confinement of 162 days, and clear evidence of mental illness ignored. Mr. Justice Wheatley presided over the inquest and “what he discovered was disturbing. In his report, you can almost feel the contempt for which he holds a system that could treat human beings this way.” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/edward-snowshoe-is-dead-that-should-concern-us-all/article19552587
VICE News
Aboriginal Gangs in Winnipeg
This link is to an almost 17 minute video report on gang violence in Winnipeg where the city has been the murder capital of Canada for 16 of the last 33 years. Aboriginals make up 10% of the city’s 800,000 population and most live in dire poverty. The video includes interviews with homicide detectives and Aboriginal gang members and others who speak of the influence of the residential schools and the influx into urban living. https://news.vice.com/video/aboriginal-gangs-in-winnipeg
National Post – Adrian Humphreys
Canada’s immigration enforcement system suffers from ‘orchestrated mismanagement,’ whistleblower claims
The number of deportees is considerably and suddenly down while the agency is overspending and costs are escalating beyond any reasonableness. Reg Williams, the former director of CBSA’s (Canada Border Service Agency) Toronto enforcement office, made his allegations in a whistle-blowing letter to the Privy Council. http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/10/former-border-services-manager-blowing-whistle-on-alleged-orchestrated-mismanagement-of-canadas-immigration-enforcement/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NP_Top_Stories+%28National+Post+-+Top+Stories%29
The Sentencing Project (US)
U.S. Sentencing Commission: Sentencing for Drug Offenses
The article updates the recommendations to the Congress regarding sentencing that the commission thinks too severe for drug offences. Unless disapproved by the Congress then the lesser sentence changes will take place in November. In the meantime, the Commission meets in July to determine if the sentencing principles will apply retroactively. http://sentencingproject.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1856&id=167
The Nation (US)
How US Foreign Policy Created an Immigrant Refugee Crisis on Its Own Southern Border
The crisis at the southern US borders with refuges – unaccompanied children- is accentuated now with revelations of gangs who transport the refuges and after discovering the contact information with the relatives, the coyotes force contact to extort money from the relatives. This article draws some connections between the US foreign policies around Central America and the influx of these refuges. Kimi Jackson directs the ProBAR legal aid project where she and her nine full-time attorneys have been swamped. “We have kids as little as 6 or 7 years old representing themselves in front of immigration judges,” she said. http://www.thenation.com/article/180578/how-us-foreign-policy-created-immigrant-refugee-crisis-its-own-southern-border# Related article: UNHCR News Today / NY Times – Frances Robles Fleeing Gangs, Children Head to U.S. Border http://unhcr.einnews.com/article/213113934/krs1jAXMeXxYS9Ii Related article: Human Rights Commission of Australia – Handout for hearing: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention 2014 http://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/asylum-seekers-and-refugees/national-inquiry-children-immigration-detention-2014/handout Related article: 7 News (AUS) – Candice Marcus Church-based welfare groups from SA offer care for mothers and infants held in immigration detention https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/24429077/church-based-welfare-groups-from-sa-offer-care-for-mothers-and-infants-held-in-immigration-detention Related article: Channel 4 (Southern California) SoCal Churches Provide Temporary Shelter, “Spiritual Food” for Immigrants (Three minute video report) http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Homeland-Security-Bus-Immigrants-Diocese-Rialto-Fontana-Church-266624171.html Related article: Politico.com – Susan Terrio, professor of anthropology at Georgetown University Life ended there
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/07/children-border-detention-108788.html#ixzz37BubL7Zt Related article: L.A. Times / Florida Courier – Tracy Wilkinson Poverty, crime drive Central American youths toward US http://flcourier.com/2014/07/10/poverty-crime-drive-central-american-youths-toward-us
The New Yorker – Alex Halberstadt
A Prisoner’s Reading List
Here’s an intriguing summer read for our readers. The article deals with how reading may occupy and help pass time in prison. But it also reverberates with a flavour from French writer Marcel Proust and his À la recherche du temps Perdu, among a widely diverse collection of other authors, some very little known. A delight for the armchair philosopher and a reflection on the use of time in jail! http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/07/a-prisoners-reading-list.html