Tag Archive: sentencing

Desistance from crime is the norm

August 15, 2019

This post is about 950 words and can be reach in about 4 minutes. Increasing evidence shows that most people who commit crimes stop doing so as they get older.  This finding, called one of the strongest in the whole...

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The Dutch Are Closing Prisons

May 27, 2019

This post is about 1000 words and can be read in about 5 minutes. This is a shortened version of the original article from usnews.com by Danielle Batist May 13, 2019 The number of prisoners in The Netherlands has halved...

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Do prosecutors have too much discretion?

January 14, 2019

This post is about 750 words and can be read in 3 minutes. More than 90% of criminal charges in Canada never go to trial.  They are either dropped by the Crown or the accused pleads guilty to something.  This...

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Media portrayals of crime create problems

January 7, 2019

This post is 900 words and can be read in about 4 minutes Emotional public reactions to crime have always played an important role in shaping criminal justice.  This post draws from ten recent studies (listed and linked at the...

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Globe and Mail coverage of prison reform

November 16, 2018 |

This post is about 1150 words and can be read in 5-6 minutes. On Nov 6, the Globe and Mail newspaper ran an editorial called “Fixing solitary isn’t enough.  Canada’s prisons need to be reformed top to bottom”.  The editorial...

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Benefits of Restorative Justice

November 6, 2018

This post is about 900 words and can be read in 4-5 minutes. Restorative justice (RJ) is one of those approaches often advocated yet not often used.  Despite its seeming advantages and the efforts of some advocates such as Margot...

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Canadians don’t like mandatory minimum sentences

August 27, 2018

This post is about 700 words and takes 3-4 minutes to read. The Liberal government elected in 2015 had as one of its election commitments ending mandatory minimum (MM) sentences for various crimes.  Although the first mandatory minimums were put...

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