Oct 17, 2014
iPolitics – Steve Sullivan
Howard Sapers is good at his job. So why hasn’t he been fired?
Canada’s first federal ombudsman for victims of crime is suggesting that the more effective Howard Sapers becomes in reporting deplorable conditions in Canada’s prisons, the happier the federal conservatives are because it supports their claim to be tough-on-crime. It’s only a short step to the claim that such practices are protecting the public. http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/10/15/howard-sapers-is-good-at-his-job-so-why-hasnt-he-been-fired
Health Canal (US) – Jann Ingmire
New approaches needed for people with serious mental illnesses in criminal justice system
Matthew Epperson, assistant professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, and his colleagues who have studied the interfacing of the criminal justice system and mental health for over twenty years, have published a new study entitled “New Directions in Corrections and Mental Health,” found in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. The study calls for early and effective intervention with the at risk population and identifies a number of frequently concomitant social and medical factors. http://www.healthcanal.com/mental-health-behavior/56143-new-approaches-needed-for-people-with-serious-mental-illnesses-in-criminal-justice-system.html Related article: UChicago Press – Jann Ingmire New approaches needed for people with serious mental illnesses in criminal justice system http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2014/10/13/new-approaches-needed-people-serious-mental-illnesses-criminal-justice-system#sthash.8T44W6N0.dpuf Related article: Seattle Times (US) – Jonathan Martin Escaping the mental-health abyss http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2024772310_jonathanmartincolumnmentalhealth14xml.html
Toronto Star – Olivia Ward
Mass surveillance killing Internet privacy, UN report says
The United Nations counter terrorist envoy Ben Emerson says that eavesdropping by diverse intelligence agencies is so widespread that we may now accept that there is no internet privacy left at all. The technology is so effective and “the creep” of the technology so powerful that the Five Eyes need specific and detailed law to govern their activities. The report is timely in face of the declared intent by Canadian government to broaden the powers of the secret agencies. http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/10/15/mass_surveillance_killing_internet_privacy_un_report_says.html Related article: Full UN Report UN General Assembly The Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism https://docs.google.com/document/d/18U1aHmKx9jfDQjCZeAUYZdRjl6iF4QjuS_aJO2Uy7NY/edit?pli=1 Related article: Canada.com / Ottawa Citizen – Dylan Robertson Government to give CSIS more powers in fight against homegrown radicals http://www.canada.com/News/politics/Government+give+CSIS+more+powers+fight+against/10293126/story.html Related article: CBC News – Jim Bronskill, Canadian Press Security lawyers oppose plan for blanket intelligence source protection ‘On the public record, there isn’t the evidence out there to support this.’ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/security-lawyers-oppose-plan-for-blanket-intelligence-source-protection-1.2800404
Globe and Mail – Kathryn Blaze Carlson
A dramatic hearing for killers of Tina Fontaine’s father
The family of Tina Fontaine, the young Aboriginal woman whose body was recently retrieved from the Red River gathered in Winnipeg court this week for a different cause: the sentencing of the two men, also both Aboriginals, for the murder of Tina’s father, Eugene. The trial and the sentencing aired many of the problems which the inquiry around the missing and murdered women could address. Said Thelma Favel, Tina’s aunt, about the two convicted: “In my mind, Jonathan Starr and Nicholas Abraham killed two people that night.” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/a-dramatic-hearing-for-killers-of-tina-fontaines-father/article21122161
Ottawa Citizen – Chris Cobb
Emotional Ahmed apologizes for terrorist crimes: ‘It is not who I am’
The 31 year old father of three sobbed as he apologized in court for his involvement with terrorists. Crown prosecutors want a 20 year sentence for him. A former imaging tech at an Ottawa hospital, Ahmed was convicted of conspiracy to commit a terrorist offence and participating in the activities of a terrorist group. http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/convicted-ottawa-terrorist-ahmed-doesnt-deserve-long-sentence-says-his-lawyer
CBC News – Neil Macdonald, Senior Washington Correspondent
How the law follows the wealth gap in modern-day America
Macdonald cites growing evidence that the gap in income disparity and legislation in the US consistently favour wealth and penalize the poor. Law enforcement, says MacDonald, generally sustains the social class system. He cites the case of Kalief Browder, a juvenile falsely arrested and held without trial for three years in Rikers, mostly in solitary. MacDonald also comments on the role of the militarization of small town police and a host of other incidents to support his thesis. http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/how-the-law-follows-the-wealth-gap-in-modern-day-america-1.2800057
CBC News – Alexandra Hunnings
Parents could be liable for what their kids post on Facebook, Georgia court rules
A court in Georgia (US) has ruled that parents could be liable for what their children post on the internet. So far, the ruling is limited to the state of Georgia but observers think it may be the start of a new trend. The ruling follows a fake Facebook page put up by two boys about a female classmate, but once exposed and punished, the page remained up for a further 11 months. http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2014/10/parents-could-be-liable-for-what-their-kids-post-on-facebook-georgia-court-rules.html#more-385756