Post #166 675 words; 3 minutes to read As readers of this blog know, the bulk of people in provincial jails in Canada – more than 60%, or about 15,000 people on any given day – are held despite not...
Read MorePost #161 This post is about 1060 words; 5 minutes to read Most discussion of criminal sentencing revolves around only one thing – the length of the sentence. A new paper by US law professor Eve Hanan argues (similar to...
Read MorePost # 157 For the last two weeks, John Howard Canada has partnered with several other organizations to promote awareness of the problem of solitary confinement in Canada’s prisons. Notwithstanding several court decisions and new legislation last year, the problems...
Read MoreNovember 16-30 online spotlight on solitary confinement in Canada. Check back for the link.
Read MorePost #154 950 words; 4 minutes to read Many discussions of crime treat so-called ‘violent crimes’ as a special subset that deserves a different, and harsher, response. But there are compelling reasons to be dubious about this distinction. Many of...
Read MoreA new report on the response of Canadian prisons to court rulings on the illegality of segregation shows that these ‘special intervention units’ (SIU) do not appear to be meeting the minimum standards set by the government. The full report...
Read MorePost #153 650 words; 3 minutes to read The majority (about 60%) of people held in provincial jails in Canada have not been found guilty of anything and this pattern has been getting worse in recent years. They are being...
Read MorePost # 150 About 100 words; 5 minutes to read. This post is adapted with permission from a longer article by the same authors posted by The Niskanen Centre, a US policy organization. This is an issue in which the...
Read More760 words; 3 minutes to read One of the alternatives increasingly considered – and used – instead of jailing people is the use of electronic monitors. These can be an alternative for bail; people charged with a crime can return...
Read More960 words; 4 minutes to read The right to a fair trial is perhaps the most central aspect of criminal justice. Yet, as shown in a recent report by Fair Trials, an international organization committed to human rights in criminal...
Read More