March 24, 2023 – Deaths of incarcerated persons…
CBC News – Clara Pasieka
Doubling of inmate deaths in Ontario prompts call for correctional oversight body – Open letter this week calls for ‘immediate action’ by province’s solicitor general
Given that safety in custody is the prime charge to correctional services, this report and open letter from advocacy groups, academics and others suggests a serious problem: “A report from Tracking (In)Justice, a law enforcement and criminal justice transparency project says a total of 41 people died in the custody of Ontario correctional institutions in 2021, almost double the number in 2020. Deaths have been largely on the rise since 2015, the project says. Between 2010 and 2021, more than 280 people have died in custody in Ontario.” Equally, the process following the death of an incarcerated person seems crass and crude at best, including the autopsy and the handing over of the body. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/calls-for-answers-grow-as-deaths-double-in-ontario-jails-1.6725844?fbclid=IwAR2NnR9wXJqLUYvEbUucMSbPLZ5JKRonueaTuJMQHroJsfdTwiZ3dj2gmEI
CBC News – Jorge Barrera, Michelle Allan, Joseph Loiero
The path of a gun – Tracing the clandestine journey that turned a legally purchased
Smith & Wesson into a crime gun. This is how guns get smuggled into Canada
The feature article identifies the origin of pistols smuggled into Canada from the US and declares the US the prime source for illegal firearms. “In Ontario alone, pistols from the United States made up 90 per cent of all crime-related handguns traced by police in 2022, with Texas as a leading source state, according to the Ontario Provincial Police… Since 2017, guns have killed nearly 40 people in Ottawa. Police seized more than 352 crime-related handguns, the majority smuggled from the U.S., over that same time span.” https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/the-path-of-a-gun
Tweet from Michael Spratt on crime statistics and the Ottawa Police: “Here is the thing, crime statistics are complex and I don’t trust you. There definitely a grown up conversation we can have about firearms offences, but I don’t think you are capable of that.” (cf graphs of violent crimes) @mspratt.com
BC Tyee – Michael Harris
A Hero to the Falsely Imprisoned – ‘Wrongfully Convicted’ author Kent Roach shows how Canada railroads the innocent. And he offers fixes.
Canada has no shortage of wrongly convicted people who served long prison terms before a tortuous and long exoneration process. Canada’s best known is probably David Milgaard who served 23 years. Kent Roach, a U of T law professor, was instrumental in Milgaard’s case and opines: “Correcting a wrongful conviction is like climbing a very high mountain,” Kent Roach writes. “It takes time, funds, support and volunteers who know the path.” Roach favours the recent second look legislation introduced in the Parliament. “Correcting or preventing a wrongful conviction costs money. But far more resources are concentrated elsewhere in the system. “The money spent on defence is dwarfed by the money spent on policing, experts and prosecutors,” Roach says. In an adversarial system, this seems patently unfair.” https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2023/03/21/Hero-Falsely-Imprisoned/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=032123-2&utm_campaign=editorial
U of T Criminological Highlights (Canada – Volume 20, Number 5; March 2023). – Anthony N. Doob and Rosemary Gartner
The eight papers that are summarized in this issue address the following questions: 1) How do the characteristics of a neighbourhood shape the perceptions that young people have about criminal offending? 2) Why do we need to look beyond the decisions of judges to understand imprisonment rates? 3) How do barriers to employment contribute to higher recidivism rates for racialized prisoners returning to the community? 4) Why are some victims of sexual assault not believed? 5) How do guns kill people even if the gun isn’t present when a person is shot? 6) How do criminal record checks keep people from being employed before there is any contact between the employer and the job applicant? 7) Why do Black youths receive harsher discipline at school even if their behaviour is no different from that of White youths? 8) Are long prison stays effective in reducing crime? https://www.crimhighlights.ca/ (N.B. New web site – worth exploring for current topical interests; old site still accessible)
The Pew Foundation – Julie Wertheimer, Project Director (Public Safety Performance)
For People under Probation, Conditions Meant to Support Behavior Change Can Burden More Than Benefit – Parameters are increasingly onerous depending on whether a person is on a low, medium, or high level of supervision
“Probation supervision can serve as an alternative to incarceration and has been considered a privilege because it allows individuals to remain in the community rather than serving their full sentences in jail or prison. However, that privilege might come with many mandatory requirements that can consume the life of the person under supervision. There are often required treatment appointments, probation office visits, curfews, and other supervision obligations that must be met; otherwise, an individual may receive a sanction. Most probation departments use a standard list of conditions for all people on probation, and special conditions can be added to match an individual’s risk of re-offending and/or particular needs. Probation conditions are part of each person’s case plan and are often increasingly onerous depending on the level of supervision. An individual assessed as having a high level of risk to commit another offense—based on an assessment tool—has more stringent conditions than those with moderate or low levels.” (from overview) https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2023/03/for-people-under-probation-conditions-meant-to-support-behavior-change-can-burden-more-than-benefit?utm_campaign=2023-03-22+Rundown&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Pew&subscriberkey=00Q0P00000oErugUAC
Tweet from Alex Karakatsanis on Prosecutorial Misconduct: “THREAD. The situation in Baltimore is getting increasingly concerning. The new city prosecutor, Ivan Bates, is engaging in a series of bizarre and unethical public stunts to increase the length of prison sentences for the mostly poor people his office chooses to prosecute.”
(https://twitter.com/equalityAlec/status/1638147090466390019?t=8dUpGdhUy1YznFyxd3ZTQw&s=03)
Tweet from Alec Karakatsanis on Teacher / police pay equity: (US) “The huge gap between the pay of teachers vs. the pay of cops/sheriffs in Los Angeles should be one of the great scandals of modern local government. It reflects a deep moral rot in our society, and a profoundly anti-science approach to both public safety and human flourishing.”
(https://twitter.com/equalityAlec/status/1638276795618455552?t=yTTBbJjCr66NGxNdrYb9Zw&s=03)