A fine piece from today's Post by Father Raymond J. de Souza:
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/12/10/father-raymond-j-de-souza-simple-minded-justice.aspx
Father Raymond J. De Souza:
The federal government has a simple approach to criminal justice: more people spending more time in jail. The justice minister has apparently discovered no problem for which mandatory minimum sentences are not the solution. Prison time for first-time, non-violent offenders is to be increased. Parole eligibility is to be narrowed.
Most significant for the future growth of our incarcerated citizenry, the government proposes to eliminate the two-for-one credit for pretrial custody. The logic has been that imprisonment before trial should be treated differently than imprisonment as the result of a guilty verdict. No matter for our jail-happy federal government. Guilt or innocence is not as important as making sure the jails are full.
When queried on the evidence for such measures, or a broader philosophy of the role of incarceration in the criminal justice system, the justice department offers little more than slogans about being "tough on crime" and making sure that "if you do the crime, you do the time." It is not so much simple as simple-minded.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
4 comments:
Hooray for M. de Souza.
S
And since they don't believe in Science and research (to wit: Isotopes, Kyoto, etc.), it's not like they'll agree with (or even understand) expert studies on the effects of incarceration...
It's sad when people live in the dark ages.
"And since they don't believe in Science and research (to wit: Isotopes, Kyoto, etc.), it's not like they'll agree with (or even understand) expert studies on the effects of incarceration..."
Is he talking about China?....or Cuba?.....or Vietnam?.....or Russian?
I have yet to come to terms with the fact that Morton is more concerned with criminals being released as fast as possible into society all the while never mentioning victims.
In many cases, the criminals started off as victims.
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