Oct 17, 2022
(Ed note: This commentary on a society of caring touches on many contemporary lived experiences and invites us again to the practice of both volunteerism and social policies of support for the life choices that enhance our living together and sharing the pain we individually and collectively encounter. Well worth a few reflective moments…)
The Boston Review (US): Lynne Segal
The Utopian Pulse: Dependence is a fact of all our lives; freedom lies in our capacity to care for others.
“Unlike commodity production, care work is not quantifiable. It is relational, and requires time, flexibility, and creativity. However rewarding and meaningful it might be, it is often challenging work that ideally ensures some reciprocal sense of agency and well-being between caregivers and receivers. Women were traditionally charged with supplying care work, but now most are in the paid workforce. Neither the United Kingdom nor the United States has passed any meaningful legislation acknowledging the care work women are often shouldered with providing; to the contrary, both countries have made substantial cuts to welfare provisions. These factors have combined to create an alarming care deficit. This gap has been largely filled by global care chains that exploit Black and migrant women. Thus, earlier feminist demands for the sharing of caring responsibilities, alongside the necessary resources and welfare provision to enrich our households and communities, are now more urgent than ever.” https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-utopian-pulse/?utm_source=Boston+Review+Email+Subscribers&utm_campaign=e551d894b2-reading_list_10_15-22&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2cb428c5ad-e551d894b2-41290816&mc_cid=e551d894b2&mc_eid=27138107ab
Global News – Brian Hill & Mikail Malik
Canada can jail asylum seekers indefinitely — but now there is a movement to change that
Federal immigration often requests provincial jail facilities where there are no federal capacity for detainees. Several provinces – BC and Nova Scotia – are already refusing to house immigration detainees – mostly asylum seekers and failed refugees. Amnesty International has begun to urge other jurisdictions to do the same. There are about 9,000 people in detention, and unlike the majority of countries, in Canada there is no limit to the duration of custody, even though no one is charged, no one is convicted and there are few who could be deemed risks to the public if at large. Advocates also raise concerns about people already under stress of migration experiencing further stress from real jails. https://globalnews.ca/news/9196862/immigration-detention-canada-asylum-seekers-suicide/
CBC News – Theresa Kliem
Whitecap Dakota set to become first self-governing Indigenous nation in Sask. ‘For our membership it was just a natural transition,’ says Chief Darcy Bear
Whitecap Dakota First Nations is writing history with 92% of the vote favouring self-governing, a first for Saskatchewan. The First Nation has already had self-governance is land management and decided to step up to full self-governance. “WDFN said it negotiated a governance agreement, along with a companion fiscal relationship agreement and implementation plan, with the Canadian government over a period of 10 years… During that time the community drafted a constitution, establishing the Whitecap Dakota government as a new government within Canada’s constitutional framework, the news release said.” The agreement comes into force in September, 2023. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/whitecap-dakota-self-governing-saskatchewan-2022-1.6615105
National Post (Canada) – Sharon Kirkey
Canadian parents have asked for medically assisted death for babies, doctors say – Doctors say explicit requests for MAID have come from parents involving very young children. Should it ever be granted?
Some time ago the issue of depressed and lonely seniors pursuing MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying) as a way to solve extreme poverty or a failure in social support. Now, the question turns to infants: “They have a brainstem that will keep their hearts beating, and their lungs breathing, but there is no expectation they would ever experience thoughts or emotions or higher brain functions, said Dr. David Lysecki, a pediatric palliative care specialist. With surgery and life-support, “we can sometimes keep their body alive for years. But that child would never be able to process the outside world in a cognizant way.” The issue is dividing into two sides: one in which the child may live for a limited time, perhaps weeks, but without hope, and the other wanting the child to be gravely ill without life expectation immediately. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canada-maid-medical-assistance-in-dying-children?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1665655699
The Crime Report: Audrey Nielsen
Autism and the Criminal Justice System
Nielsen is looking at a new report from The A.J. Drexel Autism Institute at Drexel University on the added risk involvement in the criminal legal system brings to persons with autism. The institute offers six recommendations for improving the outcomes for autistic persons and their exit from the system, starting with clinical care of trauma informed support, support for caregivers and justice professionals and addressing the social determinants of health. Five more recs follow… https://thecrimereport.org/2022/10/14/autism-and-the-criminal-justice-system/
Halifax Examiner – Suzanne Rent
Non-profit that supports sex workers opens new home in Dartmouth
Here’s a lesson that needs be coupled with questions about the law and prostitution, and what constitutes community support for sex workers. The Stepping Stone is opening a new facility in the North end of Dartmouth to continue its efforts to help prostitutes with “a place the clients can call theirs,” Alex MacDonnell (XD) said. “All the staff will be under one roof. It’ll be a holistic wraparound approach. I want it to be a one-stop shop. You can come in if you need court support, you need food. It’s all under one roof. It’s a game changer for Stepping Stone… The non-profit supports women, men, and transgender people who are currently or formerly involved in the sex trade. They also advocate for the decriminalization of sex work.” https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/non-profit-that-supports-sex-workers-opens-new-home-in-dartmouth/ Related article: WTTW Radio (Chicago) – Erica Gunderson Post-Incarceration, Women Often Face Difficulties Rebuilding Their Lives https://news.wttw.com/2022/10/15/post-incarceration-women-often-face-difficulties-rebuilding-their-lives
The Crime Report (US): James Van Bremer
Deaths in Police Custody Under-Reported: RAND
All police and prison agencies are obligated to report death in custody (Death in Custody Reporting Act, enacted in 2013) but the Rand Corporation is insisting that many agencies ignore the directive resulting in under reported incidents. Rand assembled a panel of experts to understand how to better validate the collection of national data and made 19 recommendations. Surprisingly, there appears to no clear definition of what constitutes ‘death in custody’ and therefore what should be reported. “Although significant, ongoing data collection efforts are underway, there is currently no comprehensive national or state-level reporting on law enforcement–related deaths.” https://thecrimereport.org/2022/10/13/deaths-in-police-custody-under-reported-rand/ Full report: Reducing Deaths in Law Enforcement Custody: Identifying High-Priority Needs for the Criminal Justice System – by Duren Banks, Michael G. Planty, Madison Fann, Lynn Langton, Dulani Woods, Michael J. D. Vermeer, Brian A. Jackson https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA108-16.html
The Marshall Project (US) – Jamiles Lartey
Don’t Expect Mass Prison Releases from Biden’s Marijuana Clemency – The president’s mass pardon may signal a shift in the federal approach to cannabis, but it won’t let anyone out of prison.
What may have appeared as “a beau geste” from President Biden in fact seems to be an empty political move only. In truth, there are no persons in federal custody for simple possession and most who were subjected to federal prison for marijuana possession, a small percentage of the convicted rate, were actually sentenced to 6 months. In truth, the gesture may have some influence were the states to introduce this clemency but also in truth the real answer is to reform the laws making the use of marijuana for medical or simple pleasure a criminal offence. “In his announcement, Biden urged state governors to follow his lead in granting mass clemency to people behind bars for state marijuana possession crimes, which some estimates put at 30,000 nationwide. Politico warns not to expect much from this plea. “The governors most sympathetic to the president’s goal of pardoning those with nonviolent marijuana offenses are way ahead of him, having wiped records or set up systems for people to get their convictions expunged as state lawmakers legalized weed,” write Paul Demko and Mona Zhang.” https://www.themarshallproject.org/2022/10/15/don-t-expect-mass-prison-releases-from-biden-s-marijuana-clemency Related article: The Marshall Project (US) – How Trump Made a Tiny Christian College the Nation’s Biggest Prison Educator – His administration has funneled $30 million to Ashland University in Ohio. Critics say the school’s tablet-based program fails incarcerated students. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/12/17/this-tiny-christian-college-has-made-millions-on-prisoners-under-trump?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=socialflow
Government Executive (US) – Eric Katz
Federal Prisons Are Discounting Inmates’ Sexual Assault Allegations against Officers – Bureau of Prisons will not pursue misconduct cases based on inmate testimony, IG says.
This is one of those bizarre stories coming out of US federal prisons and the role of the Inspector General who is supposed to investigate wrong-doings. If you are an incarcerated victim of a sexual assault by one of the prison staff, your testimony is automatically discarded for want of credibility. What remains for this position is to explain how someone not incarcerated, and thereby credible, gets to witness the assault. “The bureau’s Office of Internal Affairs will only consider inmate testimony when a case is accepted for criminal prosecution or if it is substantiated by video, conclusive forensic evidence or a confession. If a sexual assault allegation against an employee depends on an inmate’s account, then BOP does not pursue a misconduct case, the Justice Department’s inspector general found in a management advisory issued Thursday. That applies even when multiple inmates offer corroborating testimony, the IG said.” https://www.govexec.com/oversight/2022/10/federal-prisons-are-discounting-inmates-sexual-assault-allegations-against-officers/378391/
Tweet from Dr. Nicola Lepera: On an emotionally absent parent “I hope this video is both validating and healing to anyone who’s had an emotionally absent parent. It can be so confusing and difficult to put into words.” https://twitter.com/Theholisticpsyc/status/1580972587567308800?s=03 (A 1min 23 sec video at the link.) Related Tweet: “Being raised by emotionally immature parents sets us up for a lifetime of believing our role is to perform, achieve, or be responsible for other people’s emotions.” (Cf string) https://twitter.com/Theholisticpsyc/status/1581323439343693824?s=03
Tweet from Chris Weibe (Calgary): Traffic tickets quota for Homeless “Gonna go ahead and wildly speculate that putting a quota on the traffic tickets that CPS officers must issue per shift has an unjust impact on Calgarians with No Fixed Address.” (Cf Orchard article at link) https://twitter.com/ChrisWiebe780/status/1580722444155105281?s=03