Aug. 23, 2023 – The same, sadly…
John Howard (BC) and Vancouver is awesome.com – Mike Howell
B.C. prisoners seek extension of jail time to stay housed, avoid overdose – Criminal defence lawyer: “A terrible indictment of society when the best people can do is jail.”
Criminal defence lawyer Melanie Begalka may well have hear it all with this latest request from three of her clients during this past week. Chances of housing are so poor that all three have asked to find a way to stay in jail rather than face the streets and easily accessible drugs. The choice should send shivers down people who are ignoring the housing shortages and the role housing plays in rehabilitation. All three clients are men and all three refused to pursue bail for the same reason. Says Begalka for her clients: “[They say], ‘Let’s just push this off, because I’m still waiting to hear from housing providers, I’m still trying to get on to a wait list for treatment, and still trying to find somewhere to go after jail,’” she said. “So jail is a better option. It’s really horrible, it’s really sad.” https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local-news/bc-prisoners-seek-extension-of-time-in-jail-to-stay-housed-avoid-overdose-ravi-kahlon-7427689
CBC News (NB) – Karissa Donkin
Province didn’t do analysis of corrections system before deciding to build Fredericton-area jail, records show
This link offers commentary on why the on-going construction of new prisons is not responsive to actual real data but rather to political purposes in geographic political district and local employment, long known to be factors dictating these developments. In this case the fuss is in the riding of the new minister and involves a 109 bed, $42 million provincial jail in Grand Lake. As far back as 2008, a provincially mandated report said: “But the report also warned that research showed “custody use alone was not effective in reducing re-offending or repeated returns to jail by inmates,” since most people in the system are dealing with both addiction and mental health issues.” Critics say that government is ignoring its own reports on the jail issue. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/fredericton-region-jail-documents-1.6940522
The Conversation (Queen’s) – Ruth McCausland and Eileen Baldry
The social determinants of justice: 8 factors that increase your risk of imprisonment
The social factors that make a difference to the likelihood of a person going to jail in Australia, much in the same vein as the determinants of health. “Because while crime rates are decreasing and governments have committed to reducing reoffending, the incarceration rates of certain groups of people remain shamefully high. These groups include Indigenous people, those with mental and cognitive disability, and people experiencing addiction and homelessness… ” Our findings, published today, reveal a criminal “justice” system that is far from just.” https://theconversation.com/the-social-determinants-of-justice-8-factors-that-increase-your-risk-of-imprisonment-203661 Full Report: International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy – Ruth McCauseland and Eileen Baldry Who does Australia Lock Up? The Social Determinants of Justice Related article: Toronto Star – Katharine Lake Berz 30 years in jail for a murder they say they didn’t commit. These sisters’ first trip together was harder than either could have imagined – Quewezance sisters and Indigenous elders invited the Star on parts of a journey laden with emotion and also risk. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/30-years-in-jail-for-a-murder-they-say-they-didn-t-commit-these-sisters/article_00e46f22-ecaa-5e5f-a59b-09875024d1bd.html
Detroit Free Press (US) – Jennifer Brookland
They thought they’d die in prison. Now they’re juvenile justice advocates on a mission
The link offers a reminder of where we have been with juvenile justice and why it makes sense to rejoice in the acquired wisdom. In 1992, Jose Burgos was a 14 year old Michigan boy who killed one and wounded another in a drug buy gone bad. As in the state practice – Michigan has more youth LWOP than any other state – he was charged in adult court and sentenced to LWOP. “Burgos, who spent 27 years in prison before receiving a resentencing hearing and an opportunity to prove that he had transformed himself into a man worthy of rejoining society, is trying to change that.” https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/05/22/legislation-could-ban-michigan-from-sentencing-juveniles-to-life/70228967007/ (Cf Center for Fair sentencing of Youth https://cfsy.org/ )
The Sentencing Project (US) – Ashley Nellis, Ph.D. and Liz Komar
The First Step Act: Ending Mass Incarceration in Federal Prisons – Policy Brief
The First Steps Act passed the US Congress in 2018. Nellis and Komar review its purposes and comment on the impact over the past three years. The authors also review why system appears to have confronted the mass incarceration and why a further reduction in federal prison population is likely the second step in the First Steps success to date. They includes comments on both expedited release and compassionate release as well as identifying the characteristics of those who are the biggest beneficiaries of the initiatives. They call for the Congress to pass the First Steps Implementation Act, the Safer Detention Act and the Equal Act, all of which correct experienced deficiencies of the original First Steps Act. A masterful report and hope for good sense. https://www.sentencingproject.org/policy-brief/the-first-step-act-ending-mass-incarceration-in-federal-prisons/?emci=4c29fc3c-3c40-ee11-a3f1-00224832eb73&emdi=bea6962c-f440-ee11-a3f1-00224832eb73&ceid=10203385
Canadian Lawyer – Zena Olijnyk
Lawyers involved in judge surveillance banned from practising law in Manitoba, fined $5,000 each – Head of Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms John Carpay used PI to spy on Chief Justice
The two Calgary lawyers John Carpay and Randal Jay Cameron “were both accused by the LSM of failure to treat the court with candour, fairness, courtesy and respect, as well as undermining public respect for the administration of justice and breach of integrity.” The lawyers hired a private investigator to surveil the judge in a case about public health orders around Covid-19. The Law Society of Manitoba says that in the dispute between public health and several churches wanting to continue gatherings for services during the Covid-19 restrictions Carpay “made an error in judgment” by including Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal in the surveillance.” The decision to include the judge amounts to an attempt to intimidate the judge. https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/criminal/lawyers-involved-in-judge-surveillance-banned-from-practising-law-in-manitoba-fined-5000-each/378909?hsmemberId={{contact.hs_object_id}}&utm_source=GA&e=bWptbWFuc2ZpZWxkQGJlbGwubmV0&utm_medium=20230822&utm_campaign=LTW-Newsletter-20230822&utm_content=&tu=
CTV News – The Canadian Press
Stricter bail a ‘balancing act’ with overrepresented groups: police chiefs
If nothing else should grab your attention the origin of these comments should: the Canadian Chiefs of Police are saying that bail reform is not simple and reforms may impact the same disadvantaged groups currently punished by the bail system. The comments come after a loud demand by these same chiefs for harsher bail demands. Chief Danny Smith, the leader of Canada’s police chiefs, “says it’s a balancing act to toughen up the bail system without the risk of more people of colour ending up behind bars.” Curiously, he made the remarks calling for ‘a balancing act” while advocating for more immigrants becoming police officers. https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/stricter-bail-a-balancing-act-with-overrepresented-groups-police-chiefs-1.6529532 Related article: CBC News – Catherine Tunney A recruitment ‘crisis’ threatens the RCMP’s future — the new boss has plans to turn it around – Commissioner Mike Duheme says widespread staffing shortages have left the RCMP at a ‘crossroads’ https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-duheme-recruitment-1.6937969
BC Tyee (via The Conversation) – Martin Andresen
The Truth about Rising Crime. And a Solution – Better social supports, not more police, will make streets safer.
Andresen is a professor of criminology at Simon Fraser and is commenting on the annual summer release of the Canadian crime statistics. Andresen offers an explanation of the data and the severity index and then explains some less obvious reasons why the percentages appear to give increasing crimes rates while a closer examination suggests the crime rate is has been falling since the 1990’s and the Crime severity Index is a little confusing, given the percentages, the application to small populations, and the actual geographical area in which the bulk of crime happens. This analysis is a sobering antidote to the political furor we often hear. https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2023/08/17/Truth-About-Rising-Crime/ Full Report: Statistics Canada: Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2022 including the Severity Index https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230727/dq230727b-eng.htm
CBC News – Stephanie Taylor
Justice minister says Canada remains ‘open’ to criminalizing coercive control – Gender-based violence an ‘epidemic’ that must be stopped: Arif Virani
In an effort to effectively address gender violence the federal government is looking to new legislation around what the government calls “coercive control.” What is also unusual is that the government is responding to recs from an inquest into the death of three women murdered in Renfrew in 2015. From the gender based violence,over 80 recs, the government sees defining what “criminalizing controlling behavior” means and how to distinguish it. “Experts in Canada and around the world define coercive control as a set of behaviours ranging from harassment and intimidation to isolating someone from family and social supports to keep them under the abuser’s control.” https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/remfrew-county-1.6939642