tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39690119699721357972024-03-18T05:18:20.904-04:00CrimbraryYour resource for news, research, opinion and comment in the world of Criminology and Criminal Justice, brought to you by the Criminology Library, Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies, University of TorontoDanielle Van Wagnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10778180676324196446noreply@blogger.comBlogger2976125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-34374762368468335392021-06-04T09:29:00.000-04:002021-06-04T09:29:06.437-04:00A Global Analysis of the Impact of COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Restrictions on Crime<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01139-z?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=organic&utm_campaign=NGMT_USG_JC01_GL_NRJournals"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>Link to Article</b> </span></a></p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"The stay-at-home restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19 led to unparalleled sudden change in daily life, but it is unclear how they affected urban crime globally. We collected data on daily counts of crime in 27 cities across 23 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We conducted interrupted time series analyses to assess the impact of stay-at-home restrictions on different types of crime in each city. Our findings show that the stay-at-home policies were associated with a considerable drop in urban crime, but with substantial variation across cities and types of crime. Meta-regression results showed that more stringent restrictions over movement in public space were predictive of larger declines in crime."</span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-64907612479525688492021-06-02T09:46:00.000-04:002021-06-04T09:29:12.521-04:00Sexual Assault of Sexual Minorities in the U.S. Military<p><b><a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1390-1.html"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Summary</span></a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RRA1300/RRA1390-1/RAND_RRA1390-1.pdf"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to PDF</span></a></b></p><p class="abstract" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"Much of the focus of research on sexual assault in the military has been on the risk faced by women. However, in civilian populations, individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) are known to be at especially high risk for sexual assault.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; margin: 0px 0px 0.875rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In this report, RAND researchers examine evidence from the 2016 and 2018 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty Members (WGRA) survey to estimate the proportion of military sexual assaults that are against LGB service members and others who do not describe themselves as identifying as heterosexual. They find that assaults on the minority of service members who do not describe themselves as heterosexual constitute almost half of the military's sexual assault numbers. The authors discuss sexual assault risks for these individuals and recommend modifying prevention programs to better address a large and previously unquantified proportion of all military sexual assaults."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-7224890024155785162021-05-21T08:33:00.004-04:002021-06-04T09:37:55.566-04:00A Second Look at Injustice<p><b><a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/A-Second-Look-at-Injustice.pdf"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Report</span></a></b></p><div class="page" title="Page 4"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"Over 200,000 people in U.S. prisons were serving life sentences in 2020—more people than were in prison with any sentence in 1970. <span style="vertical-align: 4pt;"> </span>Nearly half of the life- sentenced population is African American. Nearly one- third is age 55 or older....</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Legislatorxs in 25 states, including Minnesota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Florida, have recently introduced second look bills. A federal bill allowing resentencing for youth crimes has bipartisan support. And, over 60 elected prosecutors and law enforcement leaders have called for second look legislation, with several prosecutors' offices having launched sentence review units....</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">[This] report presents in-depth accounts of three reform efforts that can be models for the nation."</span></p></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-56343080180635935772021-05-11T09:16:00.000-04:002021-06-04T09:29:37.646-04:00Multiagency Programs with Police as a Partner for Reducing Radicalisation to Violence<p><b><a href="https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/better-evidence/multiagency-programs-with-police-as-a-partner-for-reducing-radicalisation-to-violence.html"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Summary</span></a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cl2.1162"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Full Report</span></a></b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(41, 43, 44); color: #292b2c; letter-spacing: 0.30000001192092896px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"Multiagency partnerships involving police are often implemented to foster collaboration and reduce radicalisation to violence. There is no clear evidence to support this approach, although a small number of studies provide mixed evidence about the effectiveness of multiagency partnerships for improving collaboration. Some studies offer insights about the costs and ways to best implement multiagency programmes."</span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-26745563748989773992021-05-05T10:02:00.000-04:002021-06-04T09:29:44.304-04:00Effectiveness of School-Based Programs to Reduce Bullying Perpetration and Victimization<p><b><a href="https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/better-evidence/school-based-programmes-to-reduce-bullying-victimisation.html"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Summary</span></a></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cl2.1143">Link to Full Report</a></span></b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(41, 43, 44); color: #292b2c; letter-spacing: 0.30000001192092896px; line-height: 20px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"Bullying is a ubiquitous form of aggression in schools worldwide. Intervention and prevention programs targeting school bullying perpetration and victimization are effective, yet more research is needed to understand variability in effectiveness.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(41, 43, 44); color: #292b2c; letter-spacing: 0.30000001192092896px; line-height: 20px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The main findings of our review are that anti-bullying programs were effective in reducing bullying perpetration outcomes by roughly 18-19% and bullying victimization by roughly 15-16%. There are substantial variations in effects, and the reasons for these variations require further research."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-53441112833453336482021-04-27T08:50:00.003-04:002021-06-04T09:29:50.210-04:00"Systemic Discrimination" Contributed to Failings in Toronto Police Missing-Persons Cases, Report Finds<p><b><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-police-missing-persons-1.5985326?cmp=rss"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Article</span></a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://www.missingpersonsreview.ca/report-missing-and-missed"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Full Report</span></a></b></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"An independent review of the Toronto police force's handling of missing-person cases, including the victims of serial killer Bruce McArthur, has found that 'systemic discrimination' contributed to failings in a number of investigations.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">That's one of the many takeaways from a massive report led by former judge Gloria Epstein that was released Tuesday morning. <a href="https://www.missingpersonsreview.ca/report-missing-and-missed" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(216, 216, 216); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #0550c8; text-decoration: none; transition: background-color 0.25s linear;">You can read the full report here</a>.</span></p><section id="inread-wrapper-id-44716412" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"></section><p style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Epstein found there were 'serious flaws' in how missing-person cases have been handled in Toronto, and notes that "the police could have done better."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-35575735191695652432021-04-27T08:37:00.003-04:002021-06-04T09:30:02.591-04:00Can Blockchain Safeguard the Rights of At-Risk LGBT People?<p><b><a href="https://decrypt.co/66764/can-blockchain-safeguard-the-rights-of-at-risk-lgbt-people"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Article</span></a></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"LGBT people have always found themselves at the cutting edge of technological innovation - often out of necessity. They pioneered navigating dial-up chat rooms in the 1990s and looking for hook-ups in the early days of Grindr; now, members of Iran's LGBT community are using locally created private messaging apps using Telegram's source code to evade danger....</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Yet online surveillance and censorship have cast a shadow over this marginalized community. The deployment of new technologies has emboldened anti-gay governments and non-state actors to crack down on the most vulnerable LGBT people across the world....</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In a bid to safeguard hard-won civil liberties, activists, NGOs, and technology companies are increasingly looking to blockchain technologies as an effective way to provide tools for sexual minorities to defend themselves against repressive governments and gain equal rights."</span></p><p><span style="background-color: #f2f5f8; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, serif; font-size: 23px;"><br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-30681319685488121742021-04-27T08:17:00.004-04:002021-06-04T09:30:06.244-04:00Can Artificial Intelligence Give Us Equal Justice?<p><b><a href="https://thecrimereport.org/2021/04/19/justice-authorities-should-stop-fearing-artificial-intelligence-study/"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Commentary</span></a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3795911"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Article</span></a></b></p><p style="line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"It’s 'misleading and counterproductive' to block the use of machine-learning algorithms in the justice system on the grounds that some of them may be subject to racial bias, according to a forthcoming study in the <span style="font-style: italic;">American Criminal Law Review</span>.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The use of artificial intelligence by judges, prosecutors, police and other justice authorities remains 'the best means to overcome the pervasive bias and discrimination that exists in all parts of the deeply flawed criminal justice system,' said the study.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Algorithmic systems are used in a variety of ways in the U.S. justice system in practices ranging from identifying and predicting crime “hot spots” to real-time surveillance....</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 24px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The study authors concede that many of the algorithms are far from perfect, but they argue that dropping them altogether would remove an important counterweight to human fallibility."</span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-48692697491058661582021-04-27T08:09:00.003-04:002021-06-04T09:30:10.470-04:00Research Shows How Safety Concerns Impact Women's Travel Patterns<p><b><a href="https://cities-today.com/research-shows-how-safety-concerns-impact-womens-travel-patterns/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202021-04-21%20Smart%20Cities%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:33747%5D&utm_term=Smart%20Cities%20Dive"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Article</span></a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://ramboll.com/-/media/files/rgr/documents/markets/transport/g/gender-and-mobility_report.pdf"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Report</span></a></b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; line-height: 25px; margin: 5px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"New research from Ramboll finds that personal safety concerns about walking, cycling and using public transport have a big influence on how women move around cities.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; line-height: 25px; margin: 5px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The <em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://ramboll.com/-/media/files/rgr/documents/markets/transport/g/gender-and-mobility_report.pdf" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #143458; transition: all 0.5s ease;" target="_blank">Gender and (Smart) Mobility </a></em><a href="https://de.ramboll.com/media/rde/gendermobilitaet" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #143458; transition: all 0.5s ease;" target="_blank">report</a> calls on cities and transport planners to adopt a safety by design approach and apply a gender lens to all projects without casting women as victims. This, it says, is the key to making all citizens feel safer.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; line-height: 25px; margin: 5px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The analysis brings together existing local and national gender-segregated transport behaviour data with a survey of 3,525 people and focus groups across seven capital cities – Helsinki, Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Berlin, New Delhi, and Singapore."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-72064390284214275292021-03-31T11:23:00.003-04:002021-04-01T10:11:32.087-04:00COVID-19 Hit Federal Prisons Twice as Hard in 2nd Wave of Pandemic, Report Says<p><b><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/csc-prisoners-covid19-second-wave-1.5923707"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to News Report</span></a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://oci-bec.gc.ca/cnt/rpt/pdf/oth-aut/oth-aut20210223-eng.pdf"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Correctional Investigator Report</span></a></b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"COVID-19 has hit federal prisons twice as hard in the second wave of the pandemic compared to the first, according to a new report from Canada's Correctional Investigator that recommends an inmate vaccination strategy to prevent more outbreaks behind bars....</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In all, about 10 per cent of the federal prison population has been infected with COVID-19, compared to just two per cent of Canada's general population....</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: medium;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: inherit;">Among his key recommendations, Zinger [Correctional Investigator] alls on Public Safety Minister Bill Blair to explore alternatives to incarceration and to 'address the failings of Canada's aging, antiquated and costly federal prisons.'</span></span></span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Throughout the pandemic, prisoners advocates have called for the early release of offenders to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the confined and often crowded institutions. Zinger's report noted that there have been 1,053 fewer admissions than releases during the pandemic, but said that is due to reductions in sentencing and admissions during the pandemic rather than a planned increase in the release of inmates.</span></p><p style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; margin-bottom: 28px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Zinger recommends that CSC collaborate with the Parole Board of Canada on the early, prioritized release of elderly and medically compromised inmates who don't pose a risk to society."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-53517535917114401352021-03-31T09:47:00.003-04:002021-04-01T10:11:52.289-04:00No End in Sight: America's Enduring Reliance on Life Imprisonment<p><b><a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/no-end-in-sight-americas-enduring-reliance-on-life-imprisonment/"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Summary and Key Findings</span></a></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/No-End-in-Sight-Americas-Enduring-Reliance-on-Life-Imprisonment.pdf">Link to Full Report</a></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"Before America's era of mass incarceration took hold in the early 1970s, the number of individuals in prison was less than 200,000. Today, it's 1.4 million, and more than 200,000 people are serving life sentences - one out of every seven in prison. More people are sentenced to life in prison in America than there people in prison serving any sentence in 1970."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-16416735014074779882021-03-29T14:06:00.000-04:002021-04-01T10:08:26.814-04:00Council on Criminal Justice. Task Force on Policing: Policy Assessments<p> <b><a href="https://counciloncj.foleon.com/policing/assessing-the-evidence/policy-assessments/"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Website</span></a></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"In partnership with the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, the Task Force is conducting more than two dozen assessments of proposed policing reforms. Each policy assessment provides an overview of the state and extent of the evidence on each topic and the expected impact of each reform on public safety, misuse of force, police-community relations, racial disparities, and officer safety.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Task Force members are examining measures focused on preventing excessive use of force, reducing racial biases, increasing accountability, and improving the relationship between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-3910441578138446932021-03-29T11:16:00.000-04:002021-04-01T10:08:31.150-04:00The Economic Costs of Pretrial Detention<p> <b><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/BPEASP21_Dobbie-Yang_conf-draft.pdf"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Report</span></a></b></p><div class="page" title="Page 3"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"We measure the economic costs of the U.S. pretrial system using several complementary approaches and datasets. The pretrial system operates as one of the earliest points in the crim- inal justice system and typically represents an individual’s first opportunity to be incarcerated. We find that individuals lose almost $30,000 in present value terms when detained in jail while awaiting the resolution of their criminal cases. These adverse consequences are also present in aggregate data, with a 10 percentage point increase in county pretrial detention rates leading to an 1.05–1.41 percentage point increase in county poverty rates and a 1.15–2.06 percentage point decrease in county employment rates. Counties with high levels of pretrial detention also exhibit significantly lower levels of intergenerational mobility in later years, consistent with pretrial detention adversely impacting young children."</span></p></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-64446045158151878992021-03-24T09:12:00.003-04:002021-04-01T10:08:35.982-04:00Court-Mandated Interventions for Individuals Convicted of Domestic Violence<p><b><a href="https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/better-evidence/domestic-violence-individuals-court-mandated-interventions.html"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Summary</span></a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cl2.1151"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Report</span></a></b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(41, 43, 44); color: #292b2c; letter-spacing: 0.30000001192092896px; line-height: 20px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"The objective of this review was to determine if court-mandated group-based batterer intervention programs are effective at reducing intimate partner violence among male batterers."</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(41, 43, 44); color: #292b2c; letter-spacing: 0.30000001192092896px; line-height: 20px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"This update of a Campbell systematic review examines the effects of court-mandated batterer intervention programs for adult males who have perpetrated intimate-partner violence."</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(41, 43, 44); color: #292b2c; letter-spacing: 0.30000001192092896px; line-height: 20px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"The review summarizes the evidence from 11 high-quality studies, including four randomized controlled trials and eight quasi-experimental comparison group studies.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(41, 43, 44); color: #292b2c; letter-spacing: 0.30000001192092896px; line-height: 20px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Eight studies were conducted in the USA, two in Canada and one in Australia."</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(41, 43, 44); color: #292b2c; letter-spacing: 0.30000001192092896px; line-height: 20px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"The studies we included do not support the effectiveness of court-mandated batterer intervention programs. There are two important caveats.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(41, 43, 44); color: #292b2c; letter-spacing: 0.30000001192092896px; line-height: 20px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">First, there is not enough evidence to draw a strong conclusion that these programs do not work. The evidence is insufficient to conclude that they do work.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(41, 43, 44); color: #292b2c; letter-spacing: 0.30000001192092896px; line-height: 20px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Second, there is a new generation of these programs that have incorporated new elements, such as motivational interviewing. Meta-analyses have established that motivational interviewing improves in-program outcomes, such as attendance and other indicators of compliance, but there is insufficient evidence to establish whether these newer generation programs reduce post-program intimate partner violence."</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(41, 43, 44); color: #292b2c; letter-spacing: 0.30000001192092896px; line-height: 20px; min-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"The classic batterer intervention program that relied solely on a feminist framework, a cognitive-behavioral model, or a mix of the two, is unlikely to provide a meaningful solution to the problem of intimate partner violence. New programs and/or entirely new approaches to this important social problem should be explored."</span></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-12589437120124324062021-03-23T12:26:00.003-04:002021-04-01T10:08:52.826-04:00Unequal Justice: Experiences and Outcomes of Young People in Ontario's Youth Bail System<p> <b><a href="https://johnhoward.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Unequal-Justice-Report-Final.pdf"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Report</span></a></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"...This report begins with an overview of the legal framework for youth bail in Ontario followed by a literature review on the youth bail system. The findings section outlines the results of the data analysis, and key trends identified in the data and through the consultations. The report concludes with a section focusing on solutions, complete with a set of recommendations."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-85167859593777706972021-03-23T10:50:00.005-04:002021-04-01T10:22:32.156-04:00The Radical Idea to Reduce Crime by Policing Less, not More<p> <b><a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/evidence-based-policing"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Article</span></a></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"Evidence-based policing aims to make policing more fair, by treating it like medicine – running controlled trials to see which interventions work, and which don't."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-38125713430117679032021-03-22T15:30:00.004-04:002021-04-01T10:24:03.003-04:00Domestic Violence during COVID-19: Evidence from a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> <b><a href="https://cdn.ymaws.com/counciloncj.org/resource/resmgr/covid_commission/Domestic_Violence_During_COV.pdf">Link to Report</a></b></span></p><div class="page" title="Page 4"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="color: #36213d;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was wreaking havoc on the lives and economies of nations worldwide, government leaders began to institute stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">These orders, while intented to help stop the spread of the virus, could be associated with certain adverse outcomes, including child abuse and domestic violence, in particular. Stay- at-home orders and the pandemic’s economic impacts exacerbated factors that tend to be associated with such violence: increased male unemployment, stress associated with childcare and homeschooling, increased financial insecurity, and poor coping strategies, including the increased use of alcohol and other substances. In addition, COVID-19 left parents and children confined to their homes, cut off from friends, neighbors, colleagues, and others capable of reporting signs of abuse and violence and intervening to help potential victims escape violent situations. These and other pandemic-related dynamics increased the risk of abuse, and potentially its severity."</span></p></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-59899242541505414262021-03-22T15:25:00.001-04:002021-04-01T10:09:18.757-04:00Undemocratic Crimes<p><b><a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3775130"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Article</span></a></b></p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(80, 80, 80); color: #505050;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"One might assume that in a working democracy the criminal law rules would reflect the community’s shared judgments regarding justice and punishment....</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(80, 80, 80); color: #505050;">It may then come as a surprise, and a disappointment, that a wide range of common rules in modern criminal law seriously conflict with community justice judgments, including three strikes and other habitual offender statutes, abolition or narrowing of the insanity defense, adult prosecution of juveniles, felony murder, strict liability offenses, and a variety of other common doctrines.</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(80, 80, 80); color: #505050;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(80, 80, 80); color: #505050;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(80, 80, 80); color: #505050;">In short, democratically elected legislatures have regularly chosen to adopt criminal law rules that conflict with the deep and abiding intuitions of their constituents."</span></span></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-49245833989649973772021-03-08T10:55:00.000-05:002021-03-08T10:55:43.250-05:00Canada is Torturing Inmates with Solitary Confinement, Report Finds<p><b><a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/93wj78/canada-is-torturing-inmates-with-solitary-confinement-study-says"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Vice Article</span></a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://johnhoward.ca/drs-doob-sprott-report/"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Report by Anthony Doob and Jane Sprott</span></a></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"Nearly one-in-ten federal inmates who are placed in the 'structured intervention units' designed by the Trudeau government to replace solitary confinement cells are actually being tortured, a new report says.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The new research confirms what inmates and prisoner advocates have been saying for years: Canada isn't following its own laws, various court rulings, or international standards around the treatment of inmates. It is even violating a UN convention on torture that it helped write.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The new report, authored by criminologists Anthony Doob and Jane Sprott, called the findings 'very disturbing,'</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The study looked at how often inmates were placed in those cells, how long they spent there, and whether they received any meaningful human contact during their stay."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-91370294950085622372021-02-16T13:28:00.001-05:002021-02-16T13:44:17.624-05:00Race and Criminal Injustice: An Examination of Public Perceptions of, and Experiences with, the Criminal Justice System among Residents of the Greater Toronto Area<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/law/documents/CABL_Report_Race_and_Criminal_Injustice_Feb_10_2021.pdf">Link to Report</a></b> </span></p><div class="page" title="Page 4"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"...Race and Criminal Injustice </span>is an important examination of perceptions of the criminal justice system in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and follows earlier research by the same authors that found that perceptions of the police and the courts differed significantly by racial group. Using many of the same survey questions from their 1994 and 2007 studies, the authors found that Black and Asian people are still more likely than Whites to perceive racial bias in law enforcement, and also more likely to have negative perceptions of the police. And yet a majority of all respondents perceive that police treat Black citizens worse than Whites. In addition, public perceptions that the police and courts are racially biased have increased over the past twenty-five years. These findings are especially stark considering the number and scope of anti-racism initiatives and programs that major police services have undertaken to improve community relations during those years...."</span></p></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-79021411523938227772021-02-16T09:46:00.004-05:002021-02-16T09:54:43.603-05:00Aging Out: Elderly Defendants and International Crimes<p> <b><a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3718157"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Article</span></a></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(80, 80, 80); color: #505050;">"One of the most salient characteristics of international criminal justice is delay. Whether at international tribunals, hybrid “internationalized” courts, or domestic ones, seldom do courts reach or adjudicate atrocity crimes quickly. Although much has been said about the speed or lack thereof of international criminal trials, little attention has been given to the almost inevitable side effect of the slow pace of international criminal justice: elderly defendants and prisoners. </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(80, 80, 80); color: #505050;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(80, 80, 80); color: #505050;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(80, 80, 80); color: #505050;">This Article attempts to fill this void. It explores the human rights implications of prosecuting and punishing elderly, and often extremely elderly, atrocity perpetrators and the degree to which prosecution of elderly alleged atrocity criminals furthers the objectives of international criminal justice. Whereas international human rights law recognizes that criminal proceedings must accommodate the special needs of the elderly person on trial and that serious physical or mental ailments can render prosecution and incarceration inhumane, at present, age alone is no impediment to prosecution or punishment. Age is, however, a permissible consideration at sentencing or reviews thereof. Further complicating matters, there is a tension between age-related arguments in favor of release or home confinement of defendants and prisoners and human rights norms demanding the investigation, prosecution, and punishment of perpetrators of atrocity crimes."</span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-42727217040037142772021-02-16T09:45:00.002-05:002021-02-16T09:46:58.138-05:00The Stress of Injustice: Public Defenders and the Frontline of American Inequality<p><a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3765714"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Article</span></b></a></p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(80, 80, 80); color: #505050; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"Fairness and due process in the criminal justice system are all but unattainable without effective legal representation of indigent defendants, yet we know little about attorneys who do this critical work—public defenders. Using semi-structured interviews, this study investigated occupational stress in a sample of 87 public defenders across the United States. We show how the intense and varied chronic stressors experienced at work originate in what we define as the stress of injustice: the social and psychological demands of working in a punitive system with laws and practices that target and punish those who are the most disadvantaged. Our findings are centered around three shifts in American criminal justice that manifest in the stress of injustice: penal excess, divestment in indigent defense, and the criminalization of mental illness. Working within these structural constraints makes public defenders highly vulnerable to chronic stress and can have profound implications for their ability to safeguard the rights of poor defendants."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-81265380654465298092021-02-16T09:44:00.001-05:002021-02-16T09:51:06.893-05:00Correctional Services During and Beyond COVID-19<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> <b><a href="https://rsc-src.ca/sites/default/files/images/Corrections%20PB_EN.pdf"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Link to Policy Briefing</span></a></b></span></p><div class="page" title="Page 6"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"Correctional services, both institutional and within the community, are significantly impacted by COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown those living and working in correctional facilities are particularly susceptible to exposure to potential contagions....</span></p><div class="page" title="Page 6"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In this policy brief, we focus on the current situation and examine the tensions around how COVID-19 has introduced new challenges while also exacerbating strains on the correctional system....</span></p><div class="page" title="Page 6"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">As the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked public discourse about the fact that our correctional systems are in crisis and need to be reformed, we believe this is a particularly opportune time to consider drastically reducing the incarcerated population (decarcerating) and to reconsider who could be safely housed in the community. As many of our recommendations with respect to addressing the pandemic in correctional systems speak to efforts and considerations toward reducing the incarcerated population in the federal and provincial/territorial correctional systems, we see the current brief as an opportunity to <span style="font-style: oblique;">also </span>suggest improvements for those who will remain in prison (during COVID-19 and beyond).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In that respect, we highlight and make recommendations for the needs of those who remain incarcerated in general, and for Indigenous people in particular, as well as for those who are serving their sentences in the community. Further, we make recommendations for those working in closed-custody institutions and employed to support the re-entry experiences of formerly incarcerated persons."</span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-25001496324717715272021-02-16T09:43:00.002-05:002021-02-16T09:51:39.799-05:00"One Property at a Time": A City Tries to Revive without Gentrifying<p> <b><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/nyregion/new-jersey-newark-redevelopment.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202021-02-02%20Smart%20Cities%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:32230%5D&utm_term=Smart%20Cities%20Dive"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Article</span></a></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">"Construction workers in the South Ward of Newark, one of New Jersey's most distressed areas, are busy converting a long-abandoned bank into an apartment building and poets cafe.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">A decrepit mansion in the Central Ward built by a Newark beer baron before the turn of the 20th century is being revamped as a 'makerhood,' a first-of-its-kind co-working residential and retail space....</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The transformation, fuelled largely by a push to expand affordable housing and homeownership in this city of renters, his part of a deliberate strategy with an ambitious goal: erasing Newark's long legacy of blight without pushing out residents 86 percent of whom are Black or Latino."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3969011969972135797.post-73970487118779800622021-02-16T09:42:00.002-05:002021-02-16T09:47:25.587-05:00Joint Investigation of Clearview AI, Inc. by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada...<p> <b><a href="https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-actions-and-decisions/investigations/investigations-into-businesses/2021/pipeda-2021-001/"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Link to Full Text</span></a></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: rgba(248, 248, 248, 0.8);">"The Privacy Commissioner of Canada (</span><abbr style="box-sizing: border-box;">OPC</abbr><span style="background-color: rgba(248, 248, 248, 0.8);">)... </span><span style="background-color: rgba(248, 248, 248, 0.8);">commenced a joint investigation</span><span id="fn1-rf" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="fn-lnk" href="https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-actions-and-decisions/investigations/investigations-into-businesses/2021/pipeda-2021-001/#fn1" style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: border-box; color: #7834bc; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.15; margin-left: 5px; padding: 1px 10px 2px; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="wb-inv" style="box-sizing: border-box; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px); height: 1px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Footnote </span>1</a></span><span style="background-color: rgba(248, 248, 248, 0.8);"> to examine whether Clearview AI, Inc.’s ('Clearview') collection, use and disclosure of the personal information by means of its facial recognition tool complied with federal and provincial privacy laws applicable to the private sector.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: rgba(248, 248, 248, 0.8);">...</span><span style="background-color: rgba(248, 248, 248, 0.8);">the Offices determined that Clearview collected, used and disclosed the personal information of individuals in Canada for inappropriate purposes, which cannot be rendered appropriate via consent. We found that the mass collection of images and creation of biometric facial recognition arrays by Clearview, for its stated purpose of providing a service to law enforcement personnel, and use by others via trial accounts, represents the mass identification and surveillance of individuals by a private entity in the course of commercial activity. We found Clearview’s purposes to be inappropriate where they: (i) are unrelated to the purposes for which those images were originally posted; (ii) will often be to the detriment of the individual whose images are captured; and (iii) create the risk of significant harm to those individuals, the vast majority of whom have never been and will never be implicated in a crime. Furthermore, it collected images in an unreasonable manner, via indiscriminate scraping of publicly accessible websites."</span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0