Oct. 19, 2014
CBC News – Kady O’Malley
ISIS threat could mute objections to expanded anti-terror laws, critics fear – ‘Once we give up our rights and liberties, it’s very hard to get them back,’ says Green MP Elizabeth May
O’Malley raises issues about the potential to lose rights which may be very difficult to retrieve once given away to intelligence agencies. Then she adds concerns that the pressures on MP’s in the face of alleged terrorist threats may lead to a failure to exercise due diligence in examining the provisions and the checks and balance of the proposed bill. The scope of the bill’s provisions will not be known until the bill is tabled in the House, expected next week. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/isis-threat-could-mute-objections-to-expanded-anti-terror-laws-critics-fear-1.2801884 Related article: Toronto Star – Alex Boutilier, Star Staff Reporter, Paul McLeod Halifax Chronicle Herald Ottawa knew in 2010 about scope of warrantless access PMO scrambled to get information on the warrantless disclosure of Canadians’ personal data after scope hit headlines, documents show. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/10/18/ottawa_knew_in_2010_about_scope_of_warrantless_access.html
Globe and Mail – Andrea Woo
A year after Vancouver declares mental health crisis, cases continue to climb
Brendan Munden is part of ACT – Assertive Community Treatment – a team of workers who visit with patients on a regular basis to ensure well-being and medication for mentally ill patients. These teams are a hit with patients, police and municipal politicians who collectively appealed for and got funding to expand ACT as the lists of declared patients has expanded. A year later, “the numbers of numbers of psychiatric emergency visits and police apprehensions of people with mental illness continue to climb year over year.” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/vancouvers-act-teams-need-more-action-to-battle-mental-health-issue/article21154660 Related article – CBC News Ottawa‘s innovative hospital for the homeless http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV+Shows/The+National/ID/2561511928 (A four minute video report)
National Post – Ian Mulgrew
Canada’s justice costs are soaring while crime rate sinks — and the Supreme Court is to blame: report
The conservative think tank Fraser Institute has issued a report called The Cost of Crime in Canada. The 116 page report by Stephen Easton, Hilary Furness and Paul Brantingham, all of Simon Fraser University says that crime is down by 27% but the costs of justice are up by 35%. The authors also think that SCOC decisions contributed by imposing “a set of evolving requirements on the police and prosecution that makes it manifestly more expensive to capture and prosecute.” http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/10/16/canadas-justice-costs-are-soaring-while-crime-rate-sinks-and-the-supreme-court-is-to-blame-report Related article: Fraser Institute Report and Infographic http://www.fraserinstitute.org/research-news/display.aspx?id=21876 (Scroll to bottom of intro for pdf downloads)
Government of Trinidad and Tobago
Restorative Justice and Us: Towards Policy and Practice in Trinidad and Tobago
The opening addresses from the President of the country and the Minister of Justice are direction setting, particularly the President’s speech that reviews development of RJ on a world wide basis (including Canada’s Robert Cormier). Held in October 2013, the conference drew in a veritable who’s who in the justice system and was looking for “a more healing justice system and a safer Trinidad and Tobago.” http://www.justice.gov.tt/keep-informed/policy-initiatives/restorative-justice/restorative-justice-conference-speeches
The Stringer (AU) – Gerry Georgatos
Inspector’s scathing report on the “State of Imprisonment”
For Canadians, this article from Western Australia has a “déjà vu” feel. More than 60% re-offend, ridiculously high Aboriginal imprisonment. The report calls for the prison system to be “civilized” and says that the women’s imprisonment is in crisis. http://thestringer.com.au/inspectors-scathing-report-on-the-state-of-imprisonment-8867#.VEPnIBbej3s
Phoenix New Times – Matthew Hendley
Arizona Department of Corrections Agrees to Healthcare Reforms to Settle Lawsuit
The state Department of Corrections has moved to deal with a class action lawsuit from 33,000 inmates over the health care provisions for inmates. David Fathi, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project, called the settlement “one of the largest, if not the largest settlement in a prison-conditions case in recent years.” http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2014/10/arizona_department_of_corrections_agrees_to_major_health_care_reforms_to_se.php