How science calls into question sentencing practices
830 words; 4 minutes to read Our criminal justice system goes back well before the advent of the social sciences and the development of reliable knowledge about human behaviour. But because it is so firmly based on precedents and past...
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 MoreThe sorry state of provincial jails
630 words; 3 minutes to read The recent release of a new report from the federal Correctional investigator yet again shows the many serious deficiencies in Canada’s prisons, and the indifference of the government to fix these despite many protestations...
Read MoreEdmonton lawyers press for changes for Indigenous prisoners
700 words; 3 minutes to read. Most of this post is drawn from an article by Dylan Short in the Edmonton Journal on January 26, 2020. ————————– An Edmonton law group is urging Public Safety Canada to pardon all Indigenous...
Read MoreNew government fails on criminal justice
600 words; 3 minutes to read Those who believe in making major reforms to criminal justice in Canada were heartened a few years ago. The new Liberal government in 2015 made many commitments to address at least some of the...
Read MoreWhat is ‘closure’ in criminal justice?
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...
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 MoreBeyond Incarceration
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...
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 MoreCreating more criminal law is not the answer
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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