Data on Canada’s prison system
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....
Read MoreWhy conviction does not always imply guilt
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...
Read MoreMichael Bryant, CCLA and criminal justice
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) is a champion for civil rights in all areas of Canadian life. Criminal justice is one of its focus areas. The organization has been very active in mounting court challenges around some of the...
Read MoreRestorative justice and sexual assault – Marlee Liss story
580 words; 3 minutes to read One of the most contentious areas in criminal justice discussion is around sexual assault. Clearly there are very significant issues here around sexual encounters, and consent. These are difficult for the criminal justice system...
Read MoreUniversity editorial on criminal justice
800 words; 4 minutes to read The following is an edited version of an editorial that appeared in the November 15 issue of the University of Manitoba student newspaper, The Manitoban. We reproduce it here as an example of excellent...
Read MoreWhy we like punishment
675 words; 3 minutes One of the great myths about the criminal justice system is that one of its major purposes is rehabilitation, helping people who did something wrong improve themselves so they will no longer commit crimes. But when...
Read MoreHow media coverage can distort ideas about crime
750 words; 4 minutes to read This post is drawn from a single graphic produced by the wonderful web site Our World in Data. That site provides brilliant analyses of large amounts of data, often over long periods of time,...
Read MorePosts worth a second look
600 words; 3 minutes to read. The introductory post for this blog was in early September of 2017, just over two years ago. Since then we have posted well over 100 items on various aspects of criminal justice. Many...
Read MoreElection issue 3 – Virtually no discussion of criminal justice so far
850 words; 4 minutes to read With only about 10 days to go until election day, there has been very little discussion of anything to do with criminal justice in this campaign. The issue did not come up in the...
Read MorePrisoner’s Stories – Breakfast at Timmie’s – Final Part
This post is about 1000 words and can be read in about 4 minutes. This is the final part of a four part story sent to us by a prisoner at a Quebec federal prison, describing a visit to an...
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