Criminal Justice

Society has known for a long time that when you work to make a society more equal, where everyone has a chance at a decent life, you will have less crime.  The governments of Canada over the last decade or so have taken advantage of people’s fears for political advantage.  They have promoted fear of crime and its “solution” — more people in jail for longer sentences.  This definition of the problem and its solution simply do not fit the facts which have been amply demonstrated all over the world.

There is increasingly compelling knowledge about how to prevent violence.  Some governments and local jurisdictions are pioneering the application of this knowledge and balancing smarter policing with effective violence prevention.

Key Resources, Research and Practical Examples

Public Health Agency of Canada — Canadian Best Practices in Violence Prevention

Public Safety Canada — Model Crime Prevention Programs Vol II

Professor Irvin Waller shares a list of key resources to access the knowledge and practical examples.   Already, several task forces in Canada have been able to take the time to review material like this in the context of their particular situation …  and that is how they are making  the shift.

For each of the following headings, there are three key sources that are accessible to interested readers that either confirm that prevention is cost effective in reducing harm to crime victims or importantly how we can shift to balance smart enforcement and effective prevention.

1. Making the case for investing in prevention and how governments can shift their actions;
2. Jurisdictions that illustrate the shift that balances smart policing, rehabilitation and prevention;
3. Local programs that illustrate ways to balance policing, rehabilitation and prevention;
4. Programs that target investments in early childhood and youth to prevent violence;
5. Programs that confirm that we can prevent violence against women;
6. Data banks that identify and then present best practice programs where evaluations have proved that they prevented violence;
7. Ways to assess costs to victims and governments together with analysis of benefits.

Manitoba Minister of Justice Critiques C-10 and promotes Crime Prevention

CUSJ Action – Senate Letter Campaign – January-March 2012

Follow Frances Deverell on Twitter to find out what is going on at the Senate Hearings

Coalition Statement Against Bill C-10.  Sign on to this statement.

Print these out as samples for your Sunday morning letter-writing campaign

Main Talking Points for Senate Letters              Senators worth focussing on

Write your senator at:  The Senate of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0A4

Letter – Democratic Processes and Evidence-Based Decisions   

Letter –  Mental Health and First Nations    Letter – Pardons   

CUC Draft Resolution:  Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Proposed Policy

Here are some of the letters CUSJ has written to the Federal Government over the past two years on better solutions for criminal justice.

CUSJ:  Omnibus Crime Bill Letter

Write your own letter to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice.  Let your MP know your views.

CUSJ:  Prison Farm Letter

CUSJ Letter: Mandatory Minimums

Other Resources

Lobbyists Behind Crime Bill Want to Privatize Prisons    Justice Policy Institute (USA) Report

Canadian Bar Association         Submission on Bill C-10

Calgary Raging Grannies on C-10

Sept 19 Elizabeth Fry Society and John Howard Society join forces against omnibus bill.     See press release 

Elizabeth Fry Society runs postcard campaign against Conservative Tough on Crime approach — Print your own postcards and send them to the Harper Government.

Professor Irvin Waller calls for Crime Reduction Board to be added to bill  -  (Globe and Mail, Oct. 24, 2011) Irvin Waller, member of the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa, is a professor at the University of Ottawa, and president of the International Organization for Victim Assistance. He is author of Rights for Victims of Crime: Rebalancing Justice and Less Law, More Order: The Truth about Reducing Crime.

LeadNow   (An independent advocacy group seeking progress in Canada through democracy)  asserts that every billion dollars our federal government forces our provinces to spend on new prisons is a billion dollars that could have been spent preventing crimes by supporting programs for at-risk youth, drug and alcohol treatment programs, and strategies for mental health.  One positive step would be to establish an independent commission of diverse citizens and experts to create a 21st century Canadian justice plan.  Here is the English version of their petition which you may want to sign and encourage your network to do the same – Sign Petition

RODC (Reclaim Our Democratic Canada) A group focussed on the democratic problems relating to C-10 and participating in the coalition against it.

Quebec balks at Ottawa’s Law and Order agenda  – Globe and Mail, Nov. 1, 2011 – Daniel Leblanc and Rheal Seguin

Jeffrey Simpson reports No Crime Epidemic in Canada –   Globe and Mail, Nov. 4, 2011

Coalition of Churches Condemns incarceration of the addicted and the mentally ill.  Globe and Mail, January 26, 2011

California’s Prison Policy a complete failure  (The Guardian, 2009)

Alex Himelfarb — Blog on Inequality

Prison For the Toughest Criminals in Norway