Feb 27, 2023 – Public safety…

Vera Institute of Justice (US) – Daniela Gilbert, Director, Redefining Public Safety

What makes you feel safe in your community?

Vera is looking to know how you would define public safety and is of the opinion that much talk about public safety actually ignores real public safety in our communities.  Vera wants to re-define according to what makes people feel safe, starting with a simple declaration of what it’s readership thinks constitutes real public safety.  Join the discussion:   https://secure.vera.org/a/what-makes-us-safer?ms=eng_comm_all_email_BS23_ctr_022423_B&utm_source=email&utm_medium=eng&utm_campaign=all_022423_B&contactdata=uJwkyl4x2QVRBVFhCjzjg%2buPoCLF8eChfxXXxkDV3nxy3Qy6jI9eLdikT8aAPGRxauHcgLf3O1%2f1WtklEubsMQ%3d%3d&emci=9d13f42d-dfae-ed11-994d-00224832eb73&emdi=56b072e5-53b4-ed11-a8e0-00224832e811&ceid=82378   Related article: YesEverything.ca – Desmond Cole  Rewards for Racism: A Toronto cop who killed two Black men is now leading police oversight and professionalism   https://www.yeseverything.ca/blog/rewards-for-racism?__s=wkzr506klsnf5yckatc8&utm_source=drip&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Passage+Digest+-+2023+-+February+24+-+Members&utm_content=Socialism+For+Canada%3F

Change.org – Nicole Porter

Saskatchewan Judge to release bail decision at the end of March

Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance, sisters, were convicted of a murder in 1994 and their case is now on appeal to the Minister of Justice. “Both were convicted of second-degree murder despite the fact that their cousin admitted to killing the man, there was a lack of evidence, and there was questionable interrogation.”   In the meantime, the court is hearing a bail application pending the decision on the appeal.  This may be the first case reviewed under the new law introduced to honour David Milgaard.  https://www.change.org/p/davidlametti-wrongfully-convicted-free-odelia-nerissa-quewezance-a-nation-wide-plea/u/31342861?cs_tk=AvViC6Rv-CdpAZCnAmQAAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvAVrYZfp_rtHrN-9CZZLVxE%3D&utm_campaign=93c4a3ecba35420fa7c3a87a89ab11a0&utm_content=initial_v0_6_0&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_update&utm_term=cs

Amanda Knox – On re-entry and child trauma: “After I was convicted of murder and sentenced to 26 years in prison, when the earth dropped out from beneath me, and global shame rained down on top of me, I had my first ever epiphany.”    (https://twitter.com/amandaknox/status/1629181705830670336?t=i8l5wBRDrvYIi0_MbBf1jw&s=03) cf thread (Ed note: The tweet was in response to another tweet by Dr. Nicole LePera, a wholistic psychologist, who tweets regularly on trauma:  Dr. Nicole LePera (@Theholisticpsyc) tweeted at 11:32 a.m. on Fri, Feb 24, 2023: 6 Core Traits of Dysfunctional Families:
(https://twitter.com/Theholisticpsyc/status/1629157450120327169?t=D0EEDN0oYZ9_ID2Uw3DxjQ&s=03)

The Marshall Project (US) – Closing Arguments – Christie Thompson

Fighting the High Cost of Prison Phone Calls – Tired of exorbitant phone bills, prisoners and their families are pushing to lower costs.

This article is an update and continuing argument that the availability of phone calls to incarcerated people is a critical element in any rehab and is equally critical often to the loved ones – spouse and children – left behind when an adult goes to prison.  “This week, Colorado lawmakers advanced a bill that would make all state prison calls free. Family members testified to spending thousands of dollars on calls and going into significant debt. Worth Rises, a group pushing for free prison phone calls across the country, estimates Coloradans spend nearly $9 million a year to talk to relatives in prison. And according to a report from the nonprofit Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, women disproportionately bear this financial burden — they make up 87% of family members paying for phone calls and visits.”  https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/02/25/prison-phone-calls-colorado-biden-securus  Related article: Washington Post – Rick Maese   Pickleball’s latest court? The prison yard. It’s conquered local parks and cable television. Now, with the help of one obsessed player, one of America’s fastest-growing sports is spreading to state prisons.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/02/22/pickleball-prison/

CBS Sunday Morning (US) – Ted Koppel

In Baltimore, changing minds, and saving lives

“In Baltimore, where gun violence claims the lives of hundreds each year, what is missing from so many young men is a solid foundation. The youth workers behind a program called Roca (Spanish for rock) aim to provide that grounding, by teaching alternative ways to handling the stresses of life in a challenging environment. As one Roca participant, a former drug dealer, tells “Sunday Morning” senior contributor Ted Koppel, “I came a long way, from nothing to something now.”   https://www.cbsnews.com/video/in-baltimore-changing-minds-and-saving-lives/  (A 13 minute video on a Baltimore effort to stop violence on the streets.)

Tweet from Aaron Derfel – On ER deaths: “1) Breaking: Health Minister Christian Dubé’s office was alerted to three of six controversial ER deaths at Lakeshore General Hospital (Montreal), but his inner circle never followed up with the whistleblowers to know more about what happened. Part Two in a series.”  https://t.co/q7Gpt5sCh1
(https://twitter.com/Aaron_Derfel/status/1630181370717667328?t=MAJ69zd6I9AvsnFtJ_rWMw&s=03)

CBC News – Jason Viau

LaSalle police trying something new to recruit amid nationwide staffing challenge – Ontario police associations working on ‘re-branding’ the profession

The Lasalle Police Services (near Windsor, ON) are forty strong and expecting 7 of their number to retire within five years.  So, they have begun recruiting, and especially among university grads in criminology and psychology with the intent to confront the continuous call for better trained people to handle mental health calls.  Calling it ‘re-branding,’ the parent police associations in Ontario have also recognized the need in the face of relentless demand that money allocated to increase police be re-directed to mental health professionals.  The question, should be plan succeed in attracting the social scientists to police work, is if the culture of policing or the culture of the social science can win out.  Police PR is sure to follow though they are silent for the moment.  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/lasalle-police-recruitment-challenge-1.6757816?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar&s=03

Blogger Monica Mazigh (Canada) – Human Rights Activist

On repatriation and separation: how Canada is moving forward with its unjust policies

Mazigh draws attention to the failure of the Canadian government to obey federal court Judge Henry Brown to re-patriate a group of Canadians held in camps in Northern Syria, 6 women, 13 children and 4 men.  Mazigh also points out that the appeal of Judge Brown’s order has brought the cases of other Canadian abandoned children to the forefront.  Says Judge Brown:  “To begin with, the Supreme Court of Canada established three decades ago that subsection 6(1) is aimed at prohibiting the banishment or exile of Canadian citizens by their government. It is aimed at preventing the Government of Canada and any and all of its emanations from severing or interfering with the right of Canadian citizens to leave and return to Canada.”  https://moniamazigh.wordpress.com/2023/02/27/on-repatriation-and-separation-how-canada-is-moving-forward-with-its-unjust-policies/

The Marshall Project: Life Inside – Bobby Bostic

I Was Sentenced to Die in Prison. But After 27 Years, I’m Finally Free – When I went to jail in 1995, I had never used the internet. As I play catchup, the simplest things are everything.

Bostic was 16 when he was sentenced to 241 years in prsion on 17 consecutive convictions for armed robbery.  The judge informed Bostic that he would likely die in prison.  Bostic reflection on gaining parole at age 43 after 27 years i9s a revelation about why long sentences do not represent any form of justice and how the days of the political use of the term “super predator” in the 90’s still haunts the criminal legal system.  https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/02/24/i-was-sentenced-to-die-in-prison-but-after-27-years-i-m-finally-free