May 21, 2015
Metro News – Leah Holoiday
New University of Alberta data links youth mental illness to families faced with poverty
A new study published in the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine has found some troubling links between mental illness and poverty. With a sample of 6,000, Amanda Newton, the study’s lead author, has discovered that youth receiving some sort of government assistance was more likely to visit an emergency room for self-harming. Aboriginal rates were higher, from 6% of the EMR visits but 16% of the self harming behaviour. Newton says the study is not just about self-harming but more specifically about the context for self-harm. http://metronews.ca/news/edmonton/1372876/new-university-of-alberta-data-links-youth-mental-illness-to-families-faced-with-poverty/ Related article: BBC News – Howard Mustoe Los Angeles follows Seattle in $15 hourly minimum wage http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32806059 Related article: Toronto Star – Tara Deschamps Living paycheque to paycheque a reality for thousands in Toronto – Low earners are part of a growing class plagued by skyrocketing housing prices, astronomical child-care rates and a broadening sense of poverty http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05/19/living-paycheque-to-paycheque-a-reality-for-thousands-in-toronto.html Related article: Toronto Star – Sara Mojtehedzadeh Precarious work is now the new norm, United Way report says http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05/21/precarious-work-is-now-the-new-norm-united-way-report-says.html
National Post – Bob Weber, Canadian Press
‘Welcome to hell’: Inside Canada’s most decrepit prison, Baffin Correctional Centre
“Thirty men and no bathroom,” says the director of Corrections JP Deroy who adds that waking up in the “hell hole” was gross. $900,000 and new building later, the prison, according to the auditor general, “has not met its key responsibilities for inmates within the correctional system.” Built for 68, the peak has been 115 and the average 82. The judgment seems even harsher from Deputy Justice Minister Elizabeth Sanderson who wrote: “Nunavut is likely in significant breach of constitutional obligations towards remanded accused and inmates … and faces a high risk of civil liability towards inmates, staff and members of the public.” http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/welcome-to-hell-inside-canadas-most-decrepit-prison-baffin-correctional-centre
Toronto Star – Matthew R Gourlay
Supreme Court blew chance to fix broken bail system – A recent Supreme Court decision could allow accused people awaiting trial to be unjustly refused reasonable bail
The case was R vs. St Cloud and Gourlay describes the case as the most significant criminal law decision issued by the Supreme Court so far this year but one you likely have never heard about. The case deals with the routine question of bail – people accused but not convicted and currently overcrowding jail facilities, systems and driving correctional costs. The SCC “decided that the “public confidence” ground (for denying bail) should not be interpreted narrowly or invoked sparingly, as most lower courts had assumed.” http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/05/19/supreme-court-blew-chance-to-fix-broken-bail-system.html Related article: Canadian Law Times: Shannon Kari Victim surcharges ‘entrench cycle of poverty’: lawyer http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/legalfeeds/2695/victim-surcharges-entrench-cyle-of-poverty-lawyer.html?utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=CLNewswire_20150519&utm_source=Act-On%20Software&
Toronto Star – Tonda MacCharles
Better police training, reporting on use of force needed, report urges
A report by the Public Safety Department of the federal government is looking at police use of force and concluding that police themselves need better training, especially when incidents involve the mentally ill. The report, not yet published, says that a lack of information as well as sirens and red lights before the incident can accelerate the use of force to the detriment of the safety of both the subject and the police. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/05/21/better-police-training-reporting-on-use-of-force-needed-report-urges.html
The New Republic (US) – Stephen Lurie
You Can’t Reform the Criminal Justice System by Cutting Costs
This is a provocative piece from the US about the efforts to address the mass incarceration and the extremely high cost of imprisonment. The argument now on all sides of the debate over how to reduce the numbers in prison comes back to cost savings but the realization needed is we need to divert the money into prevention and rehabilitation. The connection between criminal justice and mental health stands witness. Lurie reviews the political machinations and suggests that renunciation of the silo approach to reforming justice is a necessary first step. http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121802/freedom-wont-come-free
Toronto Star – Omer Aziz
We are all to blame for Omar Khadr’s mistreatment
A permanent stain on Canada’s record, says Aziz. He traces the history of Khadr and the unrelenting and obsessive determination to persecute Khadr whom Aziz identifies as a child soldier. The Canadian government remained during the 13 years of imprisonment indifferent to the fate of a Canadian citizen and attempted to re-classify him as an adult offender, losing all three Canadian court appeals. But on repatriation 6 of 10 Canadians did not want him back. Government simply complied and we are all responsible. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/05/20/we-are-all-to-blame-for-omar-khadrs-mistreatment.html
Guardian (UK) – Dennis McShane
Please, Michael Gove, solve the crisis in our prisons
The UK has been in turmoil for some time about its prisons and its justice policies. McShane, a former MP who served time in prison, cites the chief inspector of prisons who acknowledges high suicide rates, a 70% recidivism rate within 12 months of release and the absence of any genuine rehabilitation. McShane’s assessment of the causes for conditions in prisons is remarkably close to the North American experience. Worse to come, he thinks, because “No one is willing to make money available to help educate or rehabilitate prisoners, or stop so many being sent in…” http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/21/michael-gove-party-politics-prison-reform