Mar 11, 2022
CBC News – Haley Ryan
Spouse of Portapique gunman to have criminal charge resolved – Lisa Banfield was one of 3 people charged with providing ammunition to gunman
Lisa Banfield was charged with supplying ammunition to the Portapique shooter who killed 21 people. Her lawyer would not allow her to testify in the public inquiry while facing a criminal charge. Resolution? The charge disappears after a referral to the Restorative Justice process and Banfield will testify. The public commission believes that Banfield was attacked by the killer first and that she sought hiding on the woods around Portapique while her spouse killed 13 in Portapique. Her defense attorney says the RCMP was trying to deflect attention from the police responsibility by charging her. When the RCMP announced the criminal charge in December 2020, the force admitted that none of the three accused of supplying the ammunition knew what the killer would later do. Lawyer Anastacia Merrigan, who represents a group of women’s shelters in the area, said that asking Banfield to testify was “neither appropriate nor trauma informed.” https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/lisa-banfield-portapique-to-have-criminal-charge-resolved-1.6377713
CBC News – Paula Duhatschek
Review commissioned after SRO program put on pause at the Ontario board
The RC School board in Waterloo is playing out a scenario that once prompted a considerable growth in restorative justice use in youth criminal cases. The focus is the use of the “School Resource Office” or a police constable assigned usually full time to schools. The link offers a back ‘n forth on the potential and disadvantages of having a SRO in the school who must distinguish clearly the police role from the administrator’s role. The issue overflows as well in calling outside police into school concerns – happening more frequently and perhaps also with confusion of the respective roles. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/waterloo-catholic-board-used-school-resource-officers-to-handle-student-mental-health-issues-tantrums-review-1.6375933
Homeless Hub – Kaitlin Schwan, Mary-Elizabeth Vaccaro, Luke Reid, Nadia Ali
Implementation of the Right to Housing for Women, Girls, and Gender Diverse People in Canada
The report, prepared for the Office of the Federal Housing Advocate, is intended to identify “key housing challenges and housing rights violations experienced by women, girls, and gender diverse people in Canada.” The report also offers an analysis of the federal government housing policy and offers a series of recommendations, especially in response to the gender issues. There is a summary of the recs found on p. 93 of the report. https://housingrights.ca/wp-content/uploads/CHRC-WNHHN-Schwan-4-May-2021.pdf?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com (100 page downloadable pdf)
Canadian Civil Liberties Union
Know your rights: Racial profiling and police stops
A six part educational series on the legal rights of persons stopped by police while walking or driving. “Knowing your rights is an important tool. But sometimes questioning police or verbally insisting on your rights in the moment can escalate an interaction. It is usually a good idea to remain calm, be polite, and use your own good judgment. Knowing your rights can also help you recognize when your rights may have been violated. This will be important if you want to take action after you are no longer near the police.” CCLU insists that the series is not legal advice – “the Guide includes general information about rights and police powers, what the law says police can, cannot or might be able to do when interacting with people.” https://policestops-yourrights.ccla.org/
The Lawyer’s Daily – David Dobson
Work, pay in Canadian prisons, part two
The issue does not get much attention in Canada but this former prisoner is offering a second commentary. The article describes the recompense, requirements, process of work applications and an assessment of the worth of the job skills involved within the Canadian federal prison system. In many cases prisons engage in some sort of commercial ventures that require consistent labour. “… the prison could have sought ways to help prisoners, most of whom had little education and not much useful work experience, to develop some real skills that might help them in the labour market after release. That didn’t happen either; there was virtually no useful training or work opportunity, even here with minimum security prisoners.”
Washington Post (US) – Julianne McShane
Companies tweeted for International Women’s Day. Then this account called out their pay gaps.
Two UK advocates have the right idea for addressing wage and gender gaps. If your corporation does anything to note International Women’s Day, they want proof in the salaries. “You can’t say that you’re doing really well for equality if you’ve not got the numbers behind you to support it… We don’t want to see nice headshots of your female employees. We don’t want to see panel discussions that you’re running. We want you to tell us how you’ve identified your problems, what you’re doing to fix them, and if you have something to shout about, if you’re doing really well — well, show us the data.” Advocates in the US have identified a much larger gap when the gender and the race is together considered – the gap increases from 85% to 64% of the white male counterpart. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/03/08/twitter-pay-gap-bot-international-womens-day/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F364567d%2F6228e0509d2fda34e7c5821b%2F597720279bbc0f6826c0ca16%2F62%2F72%2F6228e0509d2fda34e7c5821b
NBC News (US) – Jane Caffrey
Four Incarcerated Women Begin First-of-its-Kind Career Training Program at Whitcraft – The Department of Corrections plans to expand the program for more women and men incarcerated in Connecticut in the future.
Whitecraft is an airplane parts manufacturer in Connecticut and is working with the state Department of Corrections to provide real upwardly mobile on the job manufacturing training for four women prisoners, without the cuffs, chains or guards. The company has run the program for men since 2018 but only now had approval for the women. How is it going? “It’s going to help me continue to build in my confidence, and get the confidence back in myself that I had lost,” Jessica said. “This place is going to help build that back up. I don’t really have the words for it, honestly.” https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/four-incarcerated-women-begin-first-of-its-kind-career-training-program-at-whitcraft/2737181/?_osource=db_npd_nbc_wvit_twt_shr
Lean out with Tara Henley: (US – 30 min audio podcast) Prison Trauma
The Class: A conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, minister and author Chris Hedges
Chris Hedges, writer, war correspondent, Presbyterian minister, teacher of 28 persons in prison who write a play. The experience becomes an emotional exposure of the prisoners themselves in a place where the emotions make one vulnerable and are generally not on display. Hodges’ book, “The Class: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison, “tells a remarkable story that highlights both the evils of mass incarceration and the capacity of the human spirit to overcome.” https://tarahenley.substack.com/p/the-class?s=r (Book available in Oct 22) Related article: Change.org – Dale Huxtable Improve Health Care in Canadian Prisons: 10 years on the 10th of March 2022! (A personal memory and a petition) https://www.change.org/p/prime-minister-of-canada-justin-trudeau-improve-health-care-in-canadian-prisons/u/30312027?cs_tk=Ao8MZOI2-CdpAVNYMmIAAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvLhFLfe9qrCRTQ19wSB6hR0%3D&utm_campaign=5b4c4112777241c9adc85db6dcf8d833&utm_content=initial_v0_5_0&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_update&utm_term=cs Related article: Compassion in Action: Fritzi Horstman Returning Home with Mark Moskowitz (A one hour interview illustrating the impact of trauma in early life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwONabrmGOQ (Horstman is the lead on the Step inside the Circle video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVxjuTkWQiE ) Blogger Russell Webster (UK) – Childhood Trauma And Poverty Linked To Adult Offending – The Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime https://www.russellwebster.com/childhood-trauma-and-poverty-linked-to-adult-offending/
Death Penalty Information Center
Behind the Curtain: Secrecy and the Death Penalty in the United States
What does a state do when the power or the process of exe3cution is threatened? The answer for some is to enact secrecy laws around the drugs used, the impact of the drug execution on the person, and the use of witnesses to the actual execution chamber, visually and auditory. Some 13 states have introduced new laws in the last ten years to avoid adverse public opinion. “This retreat into secrecy has occurred at the same time that states have conducted some of the most problematic executions in American history.” Secrecy, says the Center, increases the risk of problems. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/dpic-reports/in-depth/behind-the-curtain-secrecy-and-the-death-penalty-in-the-united-states Related article: US News – Associated Press Idaho Committee Kills Bill Expanding Execution Drug Secrecy – A bill that would have increased the secrecy surrounding Idaho’s execution drug suppliers died in a Senate committee hearing Wednesday on a tie vote. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/idaho/articles/2022-03-09/idaho-committee-kills-bill-expanding-execution-drug-secrecy
Institute for Research on Public Policy (Canada)
50th Anniversary series: What should be on Canada’s policy radar?
This series has nine cross country events: Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal, Regina, Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax — and online!
“Events are organized in a hybrid format: A live audience and panel of experts will attend in person in a manner that strictly follows health measures within each region. In addition, a virtual audience will attend in real time and can ask questions through Zoom Webinar. Discussions will be recorded and shared on our YouTube page and in audio format in our Policy Options Podcast. For more information, please contact Judy Manny at jmanny@irpp.org.” Registration (free) page: https://irpp.org/irpp-event/event-series-what-should-be-on-canadas-policy-radar/?mc_cid=c2739753c7&mc_eid=0823b9a108 IRPP YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/user/IRPP1972