Analysis: Why we should worry about who we’re jailing

Akwasi Owusu-Bempah of the University of Toronto’s Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies analyzes why blacks and aboriginals are overrepresented in Ontario correctional system, and why this matters.

It may be of little surprise to some, but the over-incarceration of First Nations and African-Canadian people in Ontario should be of concern to everyone in this country.

The overrepresentation of these two groups in Ontario’s correctional system signals that aboriginals and blacks are either disproportionately involved in crime or they face discrimination in the administration of justice; available research indicates both to be true.

Why should we work to remedy this? 

As the situation in many American states has made apparent, using incarceration as a means of controlling populations that are viewed as problematic in an effort to reduce crime is a costly endeavour that further intensifies the problems facing these communities rather than making them better. A smarter approach would be to deal with the causes of crime rather than the consequences. This is particularly true in the face of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s tough-on-crime agenda.

Read on...

Aboriginal sentencing rules ignored due to lack of funding, interest

Thirteen years after the Supreme Court of Canada issued a demand for information that would enable trial judges to pass more culturally sensitive sentences for aboriginal defendants, its edict has been largely ignored in much of the country.

In most regions, a lack of funding or a lack of interest has meant that detailed reports delving into the background of offenders are simply not prepared.

Yet, these documents – named Gladue reports after the defendant in the 1999 Supreme Court’s decision from which they evolved – are a vital aid to judges considering the impact on a defendant of the historical mistreatment of aboriginal communities. At the core of the Gladue decision was a deep concern with the over-representation of aboriginal people in jail. When judges are deprived of rich, case-specific information, aboriginal offenders are much more likely to be thrown in jail at a disproportionate rate.

“The reports are indispensable,” said Chief Justice Glenn Joyal of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench. “If you don’t get the best information with respect to the individual background and sentencing options, the judge is not in a position to come to the fit and proper sentence that Gladue requires.”

Read on...

Judges must consider history when sentencing aboriginals: Supreme Court

Sentencing judges who do not carefully consider lenient or creative sentences for aboriginal offenders are violating the law, the Supreme Court of Canada said in a major aboriginal law decision today.

Releasing rulings in a pair of much-anticipated cases that go to the heart of separate treatment for aboriginal offenders, the court said that considering factors such as cultural oppression and a history of abuse in the residential school system must be central to the sentencing process.

“When sentencing an Aboriginal offender, courts must take judicial notice of such matters as the history of colonialism, displacement, and residential schools and how that history continues to translate into lower educational attainment, lower incomes, higher unemployment, higher rates of substance abuse and suicide, and of course higher levels of incarceration for Aboriginal peoples,” a 6-1 majority said.

The court said that the promise of a landmark 1998 decision that mandated distinctive treatment for aboriginal offences has not been met.

Read on....

Incarceration of Aboriginal people in adult correctional services

Published by Statistics Canada

In 2007/2008, Aboriginal adults accounted for 22% of admissions to sentenced custody, while representing 3% of the Canadian population.

Age, level of education, and employment status can only partially explain the representation of Aboriginal adults incarcerated in Canadian prisons, according to a new study that used data from the Integrated Correctional Service Survey and the 2006 Census to analyze factors that could be contributing to the representation of Aboriginal adults in custody.

Read on...