Oct. 21, 2022
Globe and Mail – Louise Arbour and Michael Spratt
Mandatory minimum penalties harm the justice system
The authors, both well known in Canadian law circles, think that mandatory minimum penalties (MMP) are “pernicious.” These sentences oblige the judge to render the same sentence regardless of the specific circumstances of the case, a perspective that gives equal weight to all case circumstances rather than mitigating weight to some circumstances. The risk is always inappropriate and unfair penalty, perhaps rising to an unconstitutional sentence. “In 2016, then-chief justice Beverley McLachlin, writing for the majority of the Supreme Court of Canada, held in R. v. Lloyd, that, “mandatory minimum sentences for offences that can be committed in many ways and under many different circumstances by a wide range of people are constitutionally vulnerable … because they will almost inevitably catch situations where the prescribed mandatory minimum would require an unconstitutional sentence.” This is because an unjust sentence would be considered a cruel and unusual punishment under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” The obligation imposes racism against Indigenous and Black people. “In short, MMPs are all smoke and mirrors. They serve no other purpose than to give the public the illusion that more crimes will be prevented through the deterrent effect of severe punishment. Not only is this a fiction, but it introduces perversions into the criminal justice process that run contrary to a genuine interest of reducing crime.” https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-mandatory-minimum-penalties-harm-the-justice-system/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter Related article: CBC News – Brett Forester Former TRC chair criticizes Liberal bill to end some mandatory minimum sentences – ‘Bill C-5 does not go nearly far enough,’ ignores TRC call to action, Murray Sinclair says https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/former-trc-chair-criticizes-liberal-bill-to-end-some-mandatory-minimum-sentences-1.6623506
CBC News
N.W.T. inmate numbers are the lowest they’ve been in 20 years – Drastic drop in inmate numbers tied to Supreme Court bail rulings, say lawyers
In 2013-14 the Northwest Territory prison has 196 people incarcerated. Today there are just 78 in custody, 40% of the total seven years ago, most on remand. The North Slave Correctional Complex has 60 incarcerated with room for 148. The women’s wing has only one and was built for 24 in 2019 at a cost of $24.6 million. Advocates have long been pointing out the futility of more prison building. The cause of the diminishing need for prisons and cells is the new policies about releasing low risks for Covid prevention and granting bail. How wonderfully sensible! https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/northwest-territories-inmate-numbers-1.6621724 Related article: CBC News (SK) – Kendall Latimer Inmates on hunger strike at women’s jail in Sask. as concerns raised about conditions – Advocates work toward awareness, solutions https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/pine-grove-correctional-concerns-1.6622343
Blogger Russell Webster (UK)
World female prison population up 60% since 2000
There have been already statistics about the growing number of women imprisoned in both Canada and the US but this report confirms the reality internationally. “The List is published by the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (ICPR) at Birkbeck, University of London. The List provides information on the number and percentage of female prisoners in almost all countries across world. It also includes information about trends in female imprisonment in countries and regions and by continent.” While the women show the largest increase (60%) the rate of male incarceration has also grown within the same period by 22%. The women’s total is due to ‘administrative detention’ or pre-trial jailing. The US has first place on the list, followed by China, Brazil, Russia and Thailand. https://www.russellwebster.com/world-female-prison-population-up-60-since-2000/
The Crime Report (US) – Staff
‘Wellness Crisis’ Threatens U.S. Corrections Officers: Report
““This workforce is meant to support the rehabilitation of those who are incarcerated. Yet they are in no position to help others heal. They are enduring a mass trauma of their own.” So says a report from a group of correctional officers – current and retired – who strive for work conditions improvements and for correctional reform while conceding that both the incarcerated and the correctional officers suffer from the same trauma found in prisons. “We forget that if staff are not safe and feel safe and feel taken care of, they are not going to be delivering what you want them to deliver. There is no way, no way, that the mission of an agency for rehabilitation will be accomplished with impaired, broken down, exhausted, freaked out, paranoid, reactive staff.” https://thecrimereport.org/2022/10/19/wellness-crisis-threatens-u-s-corrections-officers-report/ Full Blue Ribbon Commission Report (2022) (US): https://thecrimereport.org/2022/10/19/wellness-crisis-threatens-u-s-corrections-officers-report/ (A downloadable 86+ pages PDF) Related article: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): Melissa Camacho-Cheung LA County’s Failure to Invest in Alternatives to Incarceration Fuels Inhumane Jail Conditions https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/la-countys-failure-to-invest-in-alternatives-to-incarceration-fuels-inhumane-jail-conditions Related article: The Crime Report – James Van Bramer Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the Justice System https://thecrimereport.org/2022/10/05/fetal-alcohol-syndrome-ignored-by-courts-paper/
Tweet from Joshua B. Hoe (US): On crime and murder rates “Lying charlatans….crime rates are up MORE in GOP states and cities…criminal justice reform MAKES COMMUNITIES SAFER…and cheap taglines make for IDIOTIC policy Crime increased everywhere and more in TOUGH ON CRIME PLACES If you want to have a real debate, do some research. FACTS Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Missouri, South Carolina lead the states with the highest murder rates….those are states without much criminal justice reform, with tough on crime prosecutors, fully funded police, and GOP LEADERSHIP STOP THIS NONSENSE!” https://twitter.com/ThirdWayTweet/status/1582754178362810368?cxt=HBwWgIClgcOiifcrAAAA&cn=ZmxleGlibGVfcmVjcw%3D%3D&refsrc=email Related article: The Third Way (US, March 2022) – Joshua B. Hoe The Red State Murder Problem https://www.thirdway.org/report/the-red-state-murder-problem Related article: CNN – Jacqueline Harper With homicide a leading cause of maternal death, doctors urged to screen pregnant women for domestic violence https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/20/health/homicide-maternal-mortality-us-editorial/index.html
JSTOR (US) – Rachael Kay Albers
American as Apple Pie – How marketing made guns a fundamental element of contemporary boyhood.
While the Covid produced a shortage of flour as many began to bake at home, another more dangerous purchase had record sales as well: guns. In 2021, 20 million guns were bought, one in five household bought a gun, 40% were first time buyers. The involvement of children in gun sales and exploits is one of the foci of the marketing. “Courts have long held that marketing guns to children is protected speech under the First Amendment because it’s assumed that kids already know guns are deadly.” https://daily.jstor.org/american-as-apple-pie/ Related article: CBC News – John Paul Tasker National handgun sales ‘freeze’ takes effect today – Public safety minister says the measure will ‘keep handguns off our streets’ https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/national-handgun-sales-freeze-1.6624653 Toronto Star – Stephanie Levitz Freeze on handgun sales in Canada comes into effect Friday – The freeze is part of a swath of new measures announced by the government earlier this year. https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2022/10/21/freeze-on-handgun-sales-in-canada-comes-into-effect-friday.html