Tag Archive: criminal law

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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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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The many harms of remand

June 25, 2019

This post is 600 words and can be read in 3 minutes. Jailing people after arrest – the process called remand – creates many harms. Previous posts have commented on this issue, but new research by Holly Pelvin details some...

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The limits of forensic evidence

June 17, 2019

This post is about 770 words and can be read in 3 minutes. Many of the popular crime dramas on television give prominence to forensic evidence. Corpses are identified and murderers caught through analysis of hair, clothing fibres, fingerprints, bite...

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Rethinking violent crime

June 12, 2019

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...

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The best interests of the child: Criminal sentencing in Canada

April 16, 2019

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...

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