Tag Archive: Purpose

Prison Experience – Part 1

March 23, 2020

700 words 3 minutes to read By Anonymous (Work sent to us by a former prisoner who does not wish to be identified) I ‘did time’ in several prisons in Canada a few years ago.  First, I had nearly 3...

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More posts worth a second look

February 7, 2020

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...

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Major problems in Ontario jails and courts

January 16, 2020

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...

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What is ‘closure’ in criminal justice?

January 8, 2020

850 words; 4 minutes to read ‘Providing closure’ is one of the comments we often hear in media coverage of verdicts and sentences in criminal cases.  The suggestion is that a harsh sentence provides victims of crime, or family members...

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Why conviction does not always imply guilt

December 19, 2019

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...

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Restorative justice and sexual assault – Marlee Liss story

December 4, 2019

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...

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Beyond Incarceration

November 7, 2019

950 words; 4 minutes to read Paula Mallea has had a long and distinguished career as a criminal defense lawyer and public policy advocate.  Having worked extensively with prisoners, and with Indigenous people in the justice system, she became a...

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Why we like punishment

November 2, 2019

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...

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