Risks and benefits of risk assessment
Post #178 720 words; 3 minutes to read Audio summary by volunteer Averi Brailey. This post draws largely on the work of Dr Jennifer Kamorowski and colleagues. The criminal justice system is making increasing use of ‘risk assessment’ instruments and...
Read MoreCriminal justice and the federal election
Post #175 830 words; 4 minutes to read Voice summary thanks to volunteer Averi Brailey. This post is a slightly edited reprint from one posted in the early days of the 2019 federal election. The election is a time to...
Read MoreHolding fewer people on remand does not harm public safety
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 MoreHarms of remand – evidence from Denmark
Post #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 MoreInequality and racism as central themes
450 words; 2 minutes to read Issues of inequality and racism are at the very forefront of the news in Canada. The criminal justice system is often cited as a place where these problems are notable. These issues have been...
Read MoreMajor problems in Ontario jails and courts
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...
Read MoreElection issue 2 – Why ‘tough on bail’ is bad policy
940 words; 4 minutes to read Several political leaders have recently made statements calling for making it harder, if not impossible, for people charged with certain kinds of offencss to get bail. The Conservative Party platform specifically calls for no...
Read MoreEverything you were never taught about Canada’s prison system
This post is about 700 words and takes 3 minutes to read. About a year ago, a website called intersectionalanalyst.com published a piece on Canada’s prison system. The website describes itself as “Making sense of complex social problems through information...
Read MoreHuge problems with the bail system in Canada – Part 1
Most Canadians would be shocked to learn that more than half of the prisoners in provincial jails in Canada today have not been found guilty of a crime. Instead, they are being held on ‘remand’; being held because they have...
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