The Matsqui Institution, a medium-security federal men’s prison in Abbotsford, B.C. The Canadian government plans to amend legislation to allow detained migrants to be held in federal prisons.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Placing migrants who are not criminals in prisons risks serious violations of their human rights and perpetuates narratives about the criminality of immigrants.
With a series of high-profile cases in the news, parole is back in the spotlight. Let’s unpack some of the most common misconceptions about what parole really means.
A Toronto police officer adjusts police tape at the scene of a quadruple shooting in downtown Toronto in September 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
There are proven ways to significantly reduce violent crime within the next five years. It requires becoming not “tough on crime,” but “smart on crime” before it happens.
Deepfake pornography plays a role in sexual fantasy and expression.
(Shutterstock)
Deepfake pornography raises questions about consent, sexuality and representation. The issue is more complicated than online misogyny — new criminal laws are not our best response.
Federal Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre speaks about his proposed car theft policy during a news conference at the Port of Montréal on Feb. 6, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Pierre Poilievre’s “tough-on-crime” rhetoric relies on discredited ideas that can lead to overly harsh penalties and actually increase crime.
Impact of race and culture assessment reports (IRCAs) are meant to give judges context with the aim of ultimately creating a more equitable and fair criminal justice system.
(Shutterstock)
Receiving visitors while behind bars was a raft of benefits, but people have reported many barriers. It must be made easier to help drive down recidivism rates.
The Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, in Dartmouth, N.S. The Nova Scotia Supreme Court recently ruled that the use of lockdowns to address staff shortages at provincial jails is unlawful.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mike Dembeck
Lockdowns can have severe impacts on an inmate’s mental and physical health and well-being.
The Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont. A coroner’s inquest into Soleiman Faqiri’s death at the facility has seen graphic video and heard testimony about the brutal force used against him by corrections officers.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
People with mental health challenges are more likely to die in custody. The coroner’s inquest into the death of Soleiman Faqiri in an Ontario jail is one such tragedy that calls out for reform.
Since Jan. 1, 2023, 10 inmates have died at Fulton County Jail.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Mesopotamia’s prisons were built for detaining people, not punishing them. But they shaped powerful ideas about justice and reform that aren’t so different from today’s.
Most people leaving prison face an uphill battle of service navigation that is too often deficit-focused, intentionally seeking out the failures of the individual and centred on punitive responses.
As a dangerous offender, Paul Bernardo is unlikely to ever be released from custody after 30 years behind bars — even after his transfer to a medium-security prison.
Margaret Verna Umpherville, mother of Boden Umpherville, reacts during a news conference in Saskatoon in April 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards
Indigenous people shouldn’t have to fear police who are supposed to protect them but instead still act as judge, jury and executioner.
Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro speaks during a Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers’ meeting on bail reform in Ottawa in March 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
Those determining bail must reflect on their own beliefs and show restraint as they determine risk to avoid relying on false racist narratives. So should those calling for bail reform.
A man rushes past the Ontario courthouse in Toronto in May 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
To protect communities, we must improve the likelihood that accused people can comply with their bail conditions by offering greater support on several fronts, from social services to law enforcement.
Two fatal shooting incidents at Toronto high schools, 15 years apart, show just how little has been done to address the root cause of violence in schools. Here people protest gun violence in Toronto in March 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ben Singer
To resolve growing violence in schools, policy conversations about gun violence need to include community programs that dismantle systemic barriers and inequities.
A view of the Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ont. Prisoner work is meant to aid in rehabilitation, not provide private businesses with cheap labour.
THE CANADIAN/Lars Hagberg
People don’t give up their right to be mobile or their right to make decisions about their lives simply because they are forced to flee untenable circumstances.