Rethinking 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...
Read MoreThe Dutch Are Closing Prisons
This post is about 1000 words and can be read in about 5 minutes. This is a shortened version of the original article from usnews.com by Danielle Batist May 13, 2019 The number of prisoners in The Netherlands has halved...
Read MorePrisoner’s Stories – Breakfast at Timmie’s – Part 2
This post is about 1000 words and can be read in about 4 minutes. This is the second part of a story sent to us by a prisoner at a Quebec federal prison, describing a visit to an Aboriginal healing...
Read MorePolice record checks create big problems
This post is about 500 words and can be read in about 2 minutes. Opinion by Christin Cullen, Executive Director, John Howard York Region Our current system for police background checks is a barrier to employment for far too many...
Read MoreLack of support after release from jail is a big problem
This post is about 600 words and can be read in 3 minutes. For many people who commit crimes, and their families and loved ones, their sentence is only the beginning of their problems. As other posts have described, people...
Read MoreSawbonna: Victim Impact Statement 41 Years Later
This post is about 700 words and can be read in 3 minutes. Margot Van Sluytman is a well known Canadian advocate for restorative justice, based on her experience following the murder of her father. She recently posted this moving...
Read MoreThe best interests of the child: Criminal sentencing in Canada
This post is about 600 words and can be read in 3 minutes. “Children of incarcerated parents, including parents detained in relation to immigration, are a vulnerable population that experience complex long-term psychological, social and economic disadvantages.” So begins a...
Read MorePrisoners’ stories – Breakfast at Timmie’s – Part I
This post is about 1000 words and can be read in about 4 minutes. This is the first part of a story sent to us by a prisoner at a Quebec federal prison, describing a visit to an Aboriginal healing...
Read MoreAutomatic elimination of criminal records makes sense and saves money too!
Automatic elimination of criminal records makes sense and saves money too! Senator Kim Pate, long a staunch advocate for reform of criminal justice in Canada, has introduced a bill in the Senate that calls for automatic expiry of criminal records...
Read More