Gladue decision not having desired effects

August 13, 2022

Post #197 970 words; 4 minutes to read. Audio summary by volunteer Hannah Lee. The enormous over-representation of Indigenous people in Canada’s courts and prisons is well known. As one way of dealing with this problem, the Supreme Court of...

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CSC fails on diversity issues: Auditor General

July 26, 2022

Post #196 770 words; 3 minutes to read Audio summary by volunteer Averi Brailey It’s hard to find anyone outside the government that is a fan of the Correctional Service  of Canada (CSC), which operates federal prisons and parole.  Previous...

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Ion scanners and family visits

July 7, 2022

Post #195 900 words; 4 minutes to read Audio summary by volunteer Averi Brailey Maintaining links with family is vitally important in any effort to rehabilitate prisoners.  Yet visiting someone in prison is a daunting experience.  Visitors to a federal...

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The costs of mandatory minimums

June 27, 2022

Post #194 700 words; 3 minutes to read   Audio summary by volunteer Averi Brailey   Since 1995, Canada has introduced a wide range of mandatory minimum sentences for various crimes, with a another big expansion under the Harper government. ...

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Life in prison as told by prisoners: Penalpress.com

June 13, 2022

Post #193 800 words; 4 minutes to read Audio summary by volunteer Averi Brailey. Prisons remain an unknown for most Canadians.  We have very little idea of what goes on in these institutions.  The series of posts on this blog...

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Desistance from crime

May 26, 2022

Post #192 900 words; 4 minutes to read Audio summary courtesy of volunteer Averi Brailey. ‘Desistance’ is the concept describing the reduction or cessation of criminal activity.  It is, then, of huge interest to the criminal justice community.  In the...

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Prisons are not a pathway to healing and reconciliation

May 9, 2022

Post #191 980 words; 4 minutes to read Audio summary by volunteer Averi Brailey This post, by Canadian scholar Dr. Vicki Chartrand, is reproduced with permission from the website of the Australian Institute for International Affairs. Dr Vicki Chartrand is...

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Crime continues to decline in Canada

April 30, 2022

Post #190 950 words; 4 minutes to read One of the main regular sources of data on criminal justice in Canada is the annual ‘Police Reported Crime’ report.  The most recent report was released in the summer of 2021, and...

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Correctional Investigator’s latest annual report

April 14, 2022

Post # 189 980 words; 4 minutes to read. Audio summary courtesy of volunteer Averi Brailey. The Correctional Investigator is responsible for dealing with complaints about Canada’s prisons.  His annual report is often very revealing about the state of these...

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