More posts worth a second look

February 7, 2020

580 words; 3 minutes to read Many previous posts on this blog continue to be highly relevant.  The problems they addressed remain as prevalent as ever.  These posts show how many of the issues in our system are well known...

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New government fails on criminal justice

January 30, 2020

600 words; 3 minutes to read Those who believe in making major reforms to criminal justice in Canada were heartened a few years ago.  The new Liberal government in 2015 made many commitments to address at least some of the...

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Data on Canada’s prison system

January 25, 2020

900 words; 4 minute read. The annual performance monitoring report of the Parole Board of Canada is one of the best regular sources of data about criminal justice in Canada – a field where our data are generally quite weak....

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Major problems in Ontario jails and courts

January 16, 2020

1000 words; 5 minutes to read. A recent report on the Ontario Ministry of Corrections by the Auditor General found significant problems that involve not just waste of public money, but even more seriously, negative consequences for many people enmeshed...

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What is ‘closure’ in criminal justice?

January 8, 2020

850 words; 4 minutes to read ‘Providing closure’ is one of the comments we often hear in media coverage of verdicts and sentences in criminal cases.  The suggestion is that a harsh sentence provides victims of crime, or family members...

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Cons and Kernels 3 – Stuff About Prison

December 30, 2019

600 words; 3 minutes to read Cons and Kernels owner/entrepreneur Emily O’Brien has been in the news a lot lately as she continues to build her business and is a great spokesperson for seeing ex-prisoners in a positive light. Earlier...

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Why conviction does not always imply guilt

December 19, 2019 |

930 words; 4 minutes to read Some people are found guilty of crimes they did not commit, and many more people plead guilty to specific charges that are inaccurate.  Yet once someone has pled guilty or been convicted, we seem...

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