Do Victim Impact Statements contribute to justice?
Post #212 950 words; 4 minutes to read. Summary: Work by US scholar Susan Bandes raises important issues about the place of victim impact statements in criminal justice. Victim impact statements (VIS) have become a fixture in the criminal...
Read MoreDespite what many think, most sex offenders are low risk
Post #210 730 words; 3 minutes to read Summary: A meta-analysis of 116 studies shows that recidivism rates among people convicted of sex offences in Canada have dropped dramatically over the last 40 years and are now very low. Audio...
Read MoreAlec Karakatsanis tells the real story on crime
Post #208 800 words; 4 minutes to read. Summary: US commentator Alec Karakatsanis debunks much media and political propaganda about crime. Audio summary by volunteer Hannah Lee. The last few weeks have seen an onslaught of media stories and political...
Read MoreThe costs of mandatory minimums
Post #194 700 words; 3 minutes to read Audio summary by volunteer Averi Brailey Since 1995, Canada has introduced a wide range of mandatory minimum sentences for various crimes, with a another big expansion under the Harper government. ...
Read MoreElection commitments and criminal justice
Post #176 980 words; 4 minutes to read This post is drawn from an article in the Sept 4 Toronto Star by Jacques Gallant. The focus is on the excessive numbers of Indigenous and Black people in Canada’s prisons, 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 MoreSome crimes matter more than others. White collar crime part 2
850 words; 4 minutes to read The previous post discussed white collar crime generally; this one focuses on Canada. We lack good information about the extent of white collar crime and prosecution in Canada. Still, according to federal Criminal Intelligence...
Read MoreSome crimes matter more than others. White collar crime part 1
750 words; about 3 minutes to read Previous posts on this blog have discussed the issue of what counts as a crime. Prof. Melissa Hamilton wrote about how some criminal laws are about whether an action harms another person, but...
Read MoreMore posts worth a second look
580 words; 3 minutes to read Many previous posts on this blog continue to be highly relevant. The problems they addressed remain as prevalent as ever. These posts show how many of the issues in our system are well known...
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...
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