Sept 6, 2017
CBC News – Christina Lopes
Canada should welcome up to 30,000 DACA young people facing deportation in U.S., senator says
Ontario Independent Sen. Ratna Omidvar has a bold and powerful way to be supportive of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) youth in the US. She wants Canada to accept 30,000. In an interview with CBC’s Rosemary Barton, she says: “These individuals are low-hanging fruit for us… They speak fluent English, they’ve been educated in the U.S., most of them have been to college or university, some of them have work experience. They understand the North American working culture…On top of that, in order to qualify to be a ‘Dreamer’ you have to have biometrics testing, you have to have a criminality check. So this is America’s loss but it could be Canada’s gain.” http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-could-gain-from-daca-move-1.4276201 Related article: Globe and Mail – John Ibbitson Russia to probe Canada’s aid to gay Chechens fleeing persecution https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/russia-to-probe-canadas-aid-to-gay-chechens-fleeing-persecution/article36180629/ Related article: Globe and Mail – Michelle Zilio Federal government works to clarify immigration policies for public https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/federal-government-works-to-clarify-immigration-policies-for-public/article36181071/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&
Toronto Star – Matthew Hoffmann
Dealing with climate change means transforming society
Here is a sobering article in the light of back-to-school, Hurricane Harvey and the mother of all storms, Irma. The article, by Hoffmann who is both professor of political science at U of T and co-director of the Munk School’s Environmental Governance Lab, reminds us that all decisions that we take have an environmental impact. The question for Hoffmann is how to internalize the consequences of those decisions in the perspective of preserving the environment. https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/09/05/dealing-with-climate-change-means-transforming-society.html Related article: Toronto Star Editorial (Aug 31, 2017) Houston storm a reminder Toronto must do more to tackle climate change https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2017/08/31/houston-storm-a-reminder-toronto-must-do-more-to-tackle-climate-change-editorial.html
Harvard University – In Justice Today
Life sentence thrown out for Wyoming juvenile over prosecutor objections
The Wyoming Supreme Court, over the objections of the Prosecutor, that a sentence of 70 years given to a 16 year old for first degree murder was a violation of the US Supreme Court ruling that Life-with-out-parole was unconstitutional. The court ruled that the state had made no effort to prove that Phillip Sam was in fact absolutely incorrigible and therefore excluded from the US SC ruling. https://injusticetoday.com/life-sentence-thrown-out-for-wyoming-juvenile-over-prosecutor-objections-6774d7a5a9cc
Globe and Mail –
Video: ‘Smart vest’ turns stray dogs in Thailand into crime fighters
It’s a dog’s life…The link is to a 1:40 video about an experiment, as yet inconclusive, about using stray dogs to alert police of potential law-breaking. https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/life/video-smart-vest-turns-stray-dogs-in-thailand/videof702ecd9-56e6-4c45-9bec-1a38ae230aa4/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&
TED Talks / North Central College – Jennifer Thomas
The link is to a 4min plus TED Talk which draws a comparison between the prison in Norway and those in the US. The talk focuses on what normalcy means and the role of the guards in the systems. Thomas argues that our punitive approach to prison we will continue to churn out toxicity but change is possible and solutions are available if we learn from the example of others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?index=8&list=PLsRNoUx8w3rP2RrF1Os6CbDhfudvRMRyR&v=j8I749MuYbA&app=desktop
N.Y. Times Editorial Board – (Aug 5, 2017)–
Pulling Back on the Barbaric Use of Solitary Confinement
Based on a new report from the Juvenile Law Center, and several recent court rulings, the article draws attention to the impact of solitary confinement on a juvenile prison population. “In a national survey conducted by the law center, two-thirds of public defenders reported that their juvenile clients had spent time in solitary confinement — ranging from just a few hours to seven months — as a form of punishment, to protect them from other inmates or for administrative reasons.” https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/05/opinion/sunday/solitary-confinement-prison-juveniles.html?platform=hootsuite&referer=https://t.co/6OHHQR1v02?amp=1 Juvenile Law Center Report: Jessica Feierman, Karen U. Lindell, and Natane Eaddy Unlocking Youth: Legal Strategies to End Solitary Confinement in Juvenile Facilities http://jlc.org/sites/default/files/publication_pdfs/JLC_Solitary_Report-FINAL.pdf In These Times – Michelle Chen Locking Kids in Jail for Misbehavior Isn’t Just Unfair—It’s Abuse http://inthesetimes.com/article/20456/Juvenile-legal-system-mass-incarceration-kids-youth
Blogger Russel Webster (UK)
The legal cannabis market in the USA
Here an interesting tweak on the marketing future of marijuana use in the US as the states begin to legalize. Originally estimated at $25 billion, Cowen and Co. – a subsidiary of Bloomberg’s – now estimates the 2026 value of the market at more than $50 billion from its current estimate of the legal market at $6 billion. The bitcoin, currently undergoing a growth surge, is helping since traditional banks resist money from drugs. http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?e=10ab936adc&u=f3b97d02b5235c9e7c9b3a65b&id=0c7ea2a822 Bloomberg’s commentary on bitcoin: Jennifer Kaplan Bitcoin Is Helping the Pot Business Get Over Its Banking Problem https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-13/pot-entrepreneurs-look-to-bitcoin-as-big-banks-stay-on-sidelines