Desistance from crime is the norm
This post is about 950 words and can be reach in about 4 minutes. Increasing evidence shows that most people who commit crimes stop doing so as they get older. This finding, called one of the strongest in the whole...
Read MoreOlder prisoners face serious challenges
This post is about 650 words and can be read in 3 minutes. The number of federal prisoners over the age of 50 has increased rapidly in the last decade, now reaching more than 25%. The increase is in large...
Read MoreHow to have a more informed debate on criminal justice policy
This post is about 1060 words and can be read in 5 minutes. Under the Harper Conservatives Canada experienced a considerable toughening of criminal justice laws.These included many more mandatory minimum sentences, restrictions on parole, much more restrictive rules for...
Read MoreThe Hidden Epidemic of False Guilty Pleas
By Caroline Erentzen, York University and colleagues (more information at the end of the post) This post is just under 1000 words and can be read in 4-5 minutes. In the late 1980s, a series of DNA-based exonerations shook the...
Read MoreLatest data show too many people in jails and prisons
This post is about 750 words and can be read in 3 minutes. There are several annual reports that provide important data on the criminal justice system in Canada each year. One of these is the Corrections and Conditional Release...
Read MorePrisoner’s Stories – Breakfast at Timmie’s – Part 3
This post is about 1000 words and can be read in about 4 minutes. This is the third of a four part story sent to us by a prisoner at a Quebec federal prison, describing a visit to an Aboriginal...
Read MoreThe many harms of remand
This post is 600 words and can be read in 3 minutes. Jailing people after arrest – the process called remand – creates many harms. Previous posts have commented on this issue, but new research by Holly Pelvin details some...
Read MoreThe limits of forensic evidence
This post is about 770 words and can be read in 3 minutes. Many of the popular crime dramas on television give prominence to forensic evidence. Corpses are identified and murderers caught through analysis of hair, clothing fibres, fingerprints, bite...
Read MoreRethinking violent crime
This post is 900 words and can be read in 5 minutes. “We must punish violence. Or so it seems until we discover that we are not always sure what counts as violence, and the criminal law doesn’t always punish...
Read MorePhysical environment in prisons
This post is about 900 words and can be read in about 4 minutes. This post is taken directly from the summary of a recent report issued by the United Kingdom government. The physical environment is a crucial component of...
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