Smart Justice Network
Jan 7, 2024 – The mercy worker…
The Marshall Project (US) – Maurice Chammah
The Mercy Worker, Illustrated – Her mission was to save him from death row — by telling the story of his life.
While we have no pre-occupation with the death penalty in Canada, we always need an infusion of mercy. The link offers an illustrated version of the story of mercy seeker Sara Baldwin who tries to save those condemned to death. Chammah calls her a mercy worker or alternately a mitigation specialist who pursues the life story of those sentenced to die and uses the personal history to illustrate the trauma inflicted on the person as rationale for the mercy. James Bernard Belcher’s story is a powerful reminder of the influence of early trauma and en excellent reference point for crime and punishment. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/12/18/death-penalty-comic-mitigation-specialist (The original narrative of the Mercy Worker can be found here: The Marshall Project – Maurice Chammah: The Mercy Workers: For three decades, a little-known group of “mitigation specialists” has helped save death-penalty defendants by documenting their childhood traumas. A rare look inside one case. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/03/02/death-penalty-mitigation-specialists-rare-look ) Related article: The New Yorker – Sara Stillman Sentenced to Life for an Accident Miles Away – A draconian legal doctrine called felony murder has put thousands of Americans—disproportionately young and Black—in prison. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/12/18/felony-murder-laws Related article: Canadian Press: New Brunswick judge apologizes for ‘miscarriage of justice,’ decades of lost freedom for two men: Robert Mailman and Walter Gillespie who were falsely convicted in 1984. Chief Justice Tracey DeWare of the New Brunswick Court of King’s Bench: “The only reasonable response, is to double down on our efforts to improve our justice system and guard against these anomalies, which is accomplished first by shining a light on the circumstances that led to these devastating situations.” New Brunswick judge apologizes for ‘miscarriage of justice,’ decades of lost freedom (msn.com)
Blogger Russell Webster (UK)
Experiences of probation on release from a life sentence
There is always a public reaction when a person sentenced to life in prison is released on parole, witness the South African Olympian Oscar Pistorius ( Cf CBC News: Oscar Pistorius released from prison on parole, South Africa’s corrections department says – Sprinter served nearly 9 years of murder sentence for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/pistorius-parole-steenkamp-murder-1.7075164 ). But while we know relatively a lot about what happens to aging prisoners, we know little about how those same persons fare when released on parole, especially where there are few support services. Pistorius served nine years in prison. Webster introduces Ailie Rennie, a Ph.d researcher, who asks questions of twenty lifers released over the past year. One surprising result is that most of these persons were overwhelmingly positive about their circumstances on release. https://www.russellwebster.com/experiences-of-probation-on-release-from-a-life-sentence/ Related article: Blogger Russell Webster (UK) – Where Next For Our Overcrowded Prisons? The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology examines the prison population growth, its policy implications, and the impact on people in prison. https://www.russellwebster.com/where-next-for-our-overcrowded-prisons/
CBC News –
Debate around police body cameras continues, efficacy questioned…
The bodies cameras used by most police agencies in Canada are still under study for effectiveness and cost. Some advocates say that the accountability needs definition and acceptance by civilians, not just police, and that to justify the use based on compliance of people getting arrested is insufficient. In short, what the cameras add and who benefits from the presence of the cameras, and the consequences for turning off the cameras are questions that need determination. https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2297409603603b Related article: CBC News – Police board chair wants body camera pitch re-explored after 3 fatal shootings by Winnipeg officers https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2297088579874
Chalkbeat.org (Colorado) – Jason Gonzales and Charlotte West
Colorado becomes one of the first to employ an incarcerated professor…
This is not a new thought but rather another one whose common sense is overcome by our focus on punishment. Given the number of people incarcerated in the US, why has not the skills and professional qualifications of the incarcerated played a greater role in both individual rehab and rehab of the prison population? Prisons have long sought to bring in professors from the outside to deliver tertiary educational programs to the incarcerated. This is the story of having the incarcerated themselves deliver college accreditation. “(David) Carrillo knows firsthand the power of education — he was never supposed to get out of prison. But in December, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis granted Carrillo clemency for his role in a 1993 murder. Carrillo will walk free later this month after 29 years thanks in large part to his work to educate himself and find a productive way to do his time.” https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/04/incarcerated-professor-teaches-college-classes-in-prison/
- Y. Times – Katie Engelhart (November publication)
I’ve Reported on Dementia for Years, and One Image of a Prisoner Keeps Haunting Me
The link is an enlightening perspective on the issue of elderly and ill incarcerated persons who are frequently without awareness of where they are or why they are there. A large number of them are people sentenced for teen-aged crime and known as Life without Parole or LWOP. “Between 1999 and 2016, the number of prisoners over 55 increased by 280 percent, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts; over the same period, the number of incarcerated younger people grew by just 3 percent. This trend is largely attributed to “tough on crime” reforms in the 1980s and 1990s, which lengthened sentences and ensured that many more people would grow old and frail and then die behind prison walls… Incarcerated life is also thought to accelerate the aging process, such that many longtime prisoners appear more than a decade older than their chronological ages — and are considered “elderly” at 50 or 55. ” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/opinion/dementia-prisons.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
The International Centre for Criminal Law Reform (UBC – Allard)
Considering the Best Interests of the Child in Sentencing and Other Decisions Concerning Parents Facing Criminal Sanctions
The ICLLR offers a 52-page publication entitled Considering the Best Interests of the Child in Sentencing and Other Decisions Concerning Parents Facing Criminal Sanctions – An overview for Practitioners (Hayli Millar, Yvon Dandurand, Vivienne Chin, Shawn Bayes, Megan Capp, Richard Fowler, Jessica Jahn, Barbara Pickering, and Allan Castle, Edited by Allan Castle; cf Resources page, especially) The issue is the impact of short term sentences on children, their upbringing and their well-being, all at risk for limited (and vengeful perhaps) return on the criminal law process as now practiced: “Children whose parents come into conflict with the law, and particularly those whose parents are incarcerated, experience tremendous stress and disruption in their lives that can affect their development and social adaptation. There is current momentum in British Columbia favouring reduction in short-term incarceration, particularly of Indigenous offenders, and implementing community-based alternatives that promote public safety and the successful reintegration of offenders.” https://icclr.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/An-Overview-for-Practitioners.pdf?x73624
To unsubscribe, to reply to this e-mail, or to join the Smart Justice Network distribution list, please use info@smartjustice.ca