Election issue 1 – Crime in Canada is decreasing

September 6, 2019

This post is 740 words.  3 minutes to read. A person who only paid attention to the media, whether newspapers or TV or radio, would get the impression that crime in Canada was running amok, virtually unchecked.  It is the...

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Creating more criminal law is not the answer

August 21, 2019

This post is about 1000 words and can be read in 5 minutes. One of the major problems in criminal law that rarely gets enough attention is the question of what should count as a crime in the first place. ...

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Desistance from crime is the norm

August 15, 2019

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...

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Older prisoners face serious challenges

August 8, 2019

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...

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How to have a more informed debate on criminal justice policy

July 31, 2019

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...

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The Hidden Epidemic of False Guilty Pleas

July 25, 2019

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...

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