49 Rangers…

    April 21, 2015

CBC News – Kristen Everson
49 Canadian Rangers have died since January 2011

Flagged first by a Chaplain to the Northern Rangers serving the Artic Region, the Defense Department has revealed that since January 2011 forty-nine Rangers and Junior Rangers have died.  Tasked with being Canada’s “eyes and ears” in the North, the Rangers appear to have a problem with stress and illness among so many that those available for duty are severely strained.  Rangers are part of the Reservists but function as part time volunteers.  They number about 5,000.  http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/49-canadian-rangers-have-died-since-january-2011-1.3041246   Related article: Globe and Mail – Steven Chase Ottawa won’t release outside report on death of Canadian soldier in Iraq    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/us-led-coalition-in-iraq-not-investigating-canadians-death/article24030001/

Toronto Star – Laurie Monsebraaten
Toronto: The Downton Abbey of Canada? 

Toronto is leading the way for the rate of working poor, now at 9%.  John Stapleton is updating a 2012 analysis which finds consistency in both United Way and Metcalf Foundation studies.  Stapleton defines working poor as “non-students between the ages of 18 and 65, living independently, earning more than $3,000 but less than the low income measure (LIM), defined as 50 per cent of the median income.  Minimum wage seems to play a part in limiting the needed income to bridge the poverty levels, $20,800 or $41,600 for a family of four in 2015 dollars.”   http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/04/20/toronto-the-downton-abbey-of-canada.html

Review from the Bench – Blogger Marion Lane
The Mike Duffy Trial #2: Cameras in the Courtroom?

Lane is a retired judge and splits her time between Ontario and BC.  In this blog, prompted by the furor over the Duffy trial in Ottawa, she offers some insights into the use of TV cameras in the courtroom, the pro’s and con’s, and the possible impact on defendants, witnesses and justice itself.  http://reviewfromthebench.ca/2015/04/19/the-mike-duffy-trial-2-cameras-in-the-courtroom/

Toronto Star – Marco Chown Oved
Could armed U.S. border guards be coming to Union Station?

Only Canadian police may be armed at our airports but there is a new pre=clearance agreement that may see US Customs and border officers armed while doing the job at some of our rail stations.  The agreement apparently makes allowance as well for immunity from Canadian law in the event there is any legal problem provoked by their conduct.  Josh Paterson, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, asks the critical question:  “If U.S. government agents who are on duty on Canadian soil are only going to be liable to be prosecuted in the United States for potential criminal acts in Canada, what does that mean for access to justice for people affected by those actions?”   http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/04/19/could-armed-us-border-guards-be-coming-to-union-station.html

Sallows Fry Conference 2015 – Professor Kim Pate
A Canadian Crisis: The Criminalization & Imprisonment of Indigenous Women & Those with Disabling Mental Health Issues

Thursday May 21-22, 2015

College of Law, University of Saskatchewan

Register: https://www.picatic.com/sallowsfryconference2015

Tentative agenda:   http://law.usask.ca/find-people/faculty/Sallows%20Fry%20Conference%202015%20interim%20schedule.pdf

Penal Reform International (PRI)
Global Prison Trends 2015

PRI announces the beginning of a new report and podcast – Global Prison Trends 2015 – intended to capture trends in the use and practice of imprisonment.  The report has an ambitious content:  Prison populations and rates of imprisonment, Prison management, Prison regimes, New technologies, Criminal justice, social policy and sustainable development.  The report is downloadable and available as a 52 page pdf file and has a special focus section on Drugs and Imprisonment.    http://www.penalreform.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/PRI-Prisons-global-trends-report-LR.pdf   Podcast (25 minute radio broadcast):  https://soundcloud.com/penalreform/global-prison-trends-2015

Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC) Forum Follow-up

CBC News – Ontario Today with Rita Celli   (A 24 minute podcast with Lee Chapelle)  Are Conditions in Ontario Jails Unjust?   http://www.cbc.ca/ontariotoday/

Criminological Highlights – Anthony Doob and Rosemary Gartner

Topics in this edition: (Vol 15 – April 2015)

1.      Do punitive policies directed at disruptive students affect

other students in the school?

2.      Are people released from prison after serving time for a

homicide offence likely to reoffend?

3.      Does attending an ‘advantaged’ school affect all students

equally?

4.      Does making a victim impact statement have therapeutic effects

for victims?

5.      Is procedural justice important for young people?

6.      Do those who favour harsh penalties for offenders also believe

that poor people in our communities are largely responsible

for their condition?

7.      Does an arrest without a charge hurt a person’s life chances?

8.      How can a well-meaning police officer’s polite treatment of an

eyewitness undermine the accurate identification of an

offender?

This edition should be available shortly at the web site:  http://criminology.utoronto.ca/criminological-highlights/