Aug. 21, 2023 – Long sentences…
Criminological Highlights – Professor Anthony Doob, Cheryl Marie Webster, Rosemary Gartner
Issues related to Harsh Sentences and Mandatory Minimum Sentences: General Deterrence and Incapacitation
The criminal legal system has a lively debate around the issues of mandatory sentences and the impact of sentencing on rehabilitation. The link offers an update on the historic issues around the research on the practice of lengthy harsh sentences and the impact on deterrence. Professor Doob offers as well an August 2023 update on the current research. Doob identifies mandatory sentences as one way government uses to influence the public perception of harshness and therefore deterrence. “In the 1970s, thoughtful reviewers were cautious in their conclusions, suggesting only that the deterrent impact of harsh sentences had not been adequately demonstrated. More recently, we, and others, have been more definitive in our conclusions: crime is not deterred, generally, by harsher sentences. This is not, of course, a new conclusion.” https://irp.cdn-website.com/63cb20a6/files/uploaded/DoobWebsterGartner-GeneralDeterrenceRevised-15Aug2023.pdf
The Conversation (Queen’s) – Jason Walker
Escaping justice: A flawed investigative body fails to curb RCMP sexual misconduct
Some may be surprised to know that the RCMP has created a body known as the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution (ICHR) to investigate sexual assault and sexual bullying complaints from members. The assessment to date is that the arm’s length body is a systemic failure as illustrated in this offering. If a serious complain reaches the hearing, the chances are not very good for appropriate results: of 20 cases in which culpability was upheld since inception, only 6 have resulted in dismissal, 14 remain on the job. https://theconversation.com/escaping-justice-a-flawed-investigative-body-fails-to-curb-rcmp-sexual-misconduct-210771?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20August%2018%202023&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20August%2018%202023+CID_e63df900ce152ff047c6d2c452c2147f&utm_source=campaign_monitor_ca&utm_term=Escaping%20justice%20A%20flawed%20investigative%20body%20fails%20to%20curb%20RCMP%20sexual%20misconduct
CBC News – (NF) Ariana Kelland
Former RNC chief says he was forced out after holding officers to account – Joe Boland says he pushed for greater transparency but was met with resistance
Joe Boland stepped down as Chief of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary two years ago and held his piece until invited to speak at the Canadian Association of Police Governance’s annual conference in St. John’s. “It was a concentrated effort by several to push me out the door because I was holding people accountable and that I wanted to open up the RNC and include the community into everything that we were doing,” Boland said… “It becomes very, very difficult when you deal with either politicians or senior bureaucrats that have their own agendas… And I think one of the biggest agendas is keeping the public in the dark. The people of the province are the ones who should set the direction for the police.” https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/police-governance-boland-moore-1.6940387
Axios (US) _ Sabrina Moreno
Funding for cops stokes debate over use of opioid settlement money
State and local governments are beginning to see the arrival of funds in compensation from the opium drug companies but many are distressed that a portion of that money is being diverted from public health into gaps in police and enforcement budgets. “State of play: Some of the more than $3 billion of settlement funds that’s been distributed since last year — of over $50 billion to be doled out over the next 18 years — was directed to recovery and peer support, housing and mobile methadone units and increased access to fentanyl strips… Law enforcement has a role in the opioid epidemic, but with a finite amount of funds, the money should instead focus on services and care for people impacted by addiction, said Shameka Parrish-Wright, executive director of Vocal-KY, a community organization that contributed to the spending roadmap.” https://www.axios.com/2023/08/21/opioid-settlement-spending-police?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_medium=social
The Trace (US) – Jennifer Mascia and Chip Brownlee
How Many Guns Are Circulating in the U.S.? We attempt to pin down a central — yet elusive — data point in the conversation around gun violence.
The report from the authors first acknowledges that though we have said for years that there are more guns than people in the US we in fact have no comprehensive stats on the number. What is alarming is a repeatedly demonstrable surge in gun purchase with each political crisis or each mass shooting. Pinpointing the connection between gun ownership and violence becomes more difficult. The report also notes that the US is the top world exporter of small arms. The report includes factors making the actual count difficult, including gun manufacturing consideration as well as gun destruction by police. https://www.thetrace.org/2023/03/guns-america-data-atf-total/
- Y. Times (US) – Katie Engelhart
I’ve Reported on Dementia for Years, and One Image of a Prisoner Keeps Haunting Me
Naturally one would expect aging in prison to be seriously impacted by medical health so this story raises some real moral issues: What is the point of keeping an elderly person (defined in prison reality as 50 years old) in prison when he can no longer remember his crime? “Timothy Doherty, a senior officer specialist at F.M.C. Devens, which houses federal prisoners who require medical care, estimates that 90 percent of the men he oversees “don’t know what they did. Some of them don’t even know where they are.” Mr. Doherty helps to run the Memory Disorder Unit, the federal prison system’s first purpose-built facility for incarcerated people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/opinion/dementia-prisons.html?mc_cid=440ae3120c&mc_eid=51ba856069 Related article and contact link for topical article written by incarcerated persons: Wyatt at PJP pjp@prisonjournalismproject.org Slate (US) – The Impossible Math Behind Pay-Per-Minute Prison Messaging In North Carolina prisons, we’re charged for every minute we want to look at family photos or read messages from friends. https://slate.com/technology/2023/06/prison-messaging-cost-gettingout-gtl-viapath.html?mc_cid=440ae3120c&mc_eid=51ba856069
Prison Journalism Project (US) – Kevin D. Sawyer
Stories of Freedom and Denial as Three Strikes Turns 30 in California – The state’s three-strikes law, passed in 1994, led to the incarceration of thousands for life. Some are being released under new reforms, while others continue to wait.
California’s famous “three strikes and you are out” is approaching its 30th anniversary and the controversy continued with spotty results for those sentenced to LWOP under the law: any three crimes, even minor infractions, would mean a life sentence on conviction for the third. While the move was thought to discourage repeat offenders, in fact, it did not and only contributed to mass incarceration. Many of the convictions are now under review but the scene is still messy and speaks to one enormous failure in criminal legal systems. https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2023/08/16/three-strikes-law-approaches-30th-anniversary/?mc_cid=440ae3120c&mc_eid=51ba856069
Vera Institute (US) –
People in jail and prison 2022
“KEY TAKEAWAY: Data compiled by Vera for 2022 shows that most county jails and state and federal prisons have started to refill. However, some places have managed to maintain reductions in their populations of incarcerated people.” What follows is a 40 page downloadable pdf report detailing the state of mass incarceration in local jails, state prisons and federal prisons.” https://www.vera.org/publications/people-in-jail-and-prison-in-2022 Full report: https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/People-in-Jail-and-Prison-in-2022.pdf