Pubdate: Sun, 03 Jan 2010
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2010 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: James Morton
Note: James Morton is the Deputy Chair of the Council of Presidents 
of the Liberal Party of Canada, past president of the Ontario Bar 
Association, adjunct faculty at Osgoode Hall Law School and a lawyer 
with Steinberg Morton Hope & Israel LLP.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

LIBERALS' 'TOUGH ON CRIME' STANCE NEEDS SCRUTINY

Increasing jail time may have political appeal but it accomplishes 
little. To limit crime, Liberals need to consider what works, not 
what sounds good

Fiorello La Guardia, the mayor of New York in the 1930s and '40s, 
said, "There is no Democratic or Republican way of cleaning the 
streets." La Guardia made a profound point in a simple way. Some 
things are not political. There is a right and a wrong way to keep 
streets clean; the same can be said for criminal justice.

Unfortunately, rather than asking what works, many recent changes to 
our criminal justice system are based on scoring political points. 
Pierre Trudeau called for "reason over passion" and he was right. 
Being "tough on crime" may have political appeal but it accomplishes 
little and bears significant costs. Prison is sometimes appropriate, 
as surgery is sometimes appropriate for disease, but a good doctor 
does not employ surgery for a head cold.

That does not mean prison has no role to play in the justice system. 
Someone in prison is not committing crimes outside of jail. That 
said, deterrence and rehabilitation seem to be qualified failures - 
in fact, increasing the use of jail seems to increase crime and makes 
reoffending more common.

In 1999, researchers at the University of New Brunswick examined 50 
studies on recidivism that covered more than 300,000 offenders. They 
found that the longer someone spent in jail, the more likely they 
were to commit another crime when they got out. The researchers found 
the impact was most significant for low-risk offenders - suggesting 
prison may be a "school of crime" that makes people worse, not better.

The trouble is that trying to deter crime through fear does not work. 
The concept of the criminal as rational actor is wrong. Mental 
illness is widespread through the criminal system. Drug abuse and 
psychiatric disorders are such common precursors of crime as to make 
the concept of the typical criminal as rational actor who is deterred 
by punishment absurd.

Crime is largely a reflection of underlying social failings. A recent 
judgment from Sudbury pointed out the problem:

"Poverty is the first fuel that drives crime. It becomes mixed in 
with the destabilization of families, widespread substance abuse, 
child abuse, sexual abuse and domestic violence ..."

As a whole, Canada is safe from crime. Violent crime has been 
generally dropping for years and was lower in 2007 than at any time 
in two decades.

Similarly, property crimes are down; the recent rate is more than 40 
per cent below a peak in 1991. One crime is too many, but overall 
Canada is safer than ever.

There are communities that are in trouble and to address crime we 
need to address the problems in those communities. First Nations 
constitute about 3 per cent of the general population but 17 per cent 
of prisoners in the federal system. This gross overrepresentation is 
a reflection of deeper problems within First Nations communities. 
About one in 200 non-aboriginal children are cared for by the state 
compared to one in 10 First Nations children. And yet, First Nations 
child welfare agencies receive about a fifth less funding than 
provincial agencies. Poverty and addiction are rampant in First 
Nations and aboriginal children are far more likely to experience 
neglect than non-aboriginal children. Fixing the criminal problem in 
First Nations does not require more jails; it requires social 
programs that focus on systemic community issues.

Similarly, mental health issues underlie many crimes. Eleven per cent 
of the federal prison population today were certified as mental 
health patients at the time of incarceration. Spend a day in any 
criminal court in Canada and the prevalence of mental illness is 
obvious. The mentally unstable do not respond well to prison and are 
seldom deterred by the prospect of incarceration.

Prison, regardless of its efficacy, is not cheap. The average annual 
cost of keeping a federal inmate behind bars last year was $93,030. 
There are currently 13,581 inmates costing more than $1 billion. 
American states, such as California, that rely on lengthy mandatory 
sentences have found crime is not reduced but the state is rendered 
insolvent. Money spent on jails is money not spent on hospitals or 
schools or roads.

So what is to be done?

First, we have to realize that real crime control requires a social 
safety net. Children raised in poverty, communities that are 
alienated from broader society, and untreated mentally unstable 
individuals all contribute to crime. Such a safety net may seem 
costly, but in the long run it will save money by limiting prison 
costs and creating productive citizens.

Second, we need to study what actually works. Does increasing prison 
terms actually cut crime? My own experience suggests that prison does 
deter white-collar criminals, some drug dealers and some impaired 
drivers. Drug addicts and the mentally unstable are not deterred. Can 
prison actually rehabilitate? Some American research suggests 
faith-based counselling can rehabilitate; but it also leads, 
sometimes, to a risk of radicalization.

Finally, we should consider what is and what is not criminal. It 
makes sense to criminalize the sale of addictive poisons. But why are 
cigarettes legal while a little less than 50,000 Canadians a year are 
criminally charged with possession of marijuana?

These points are practical. To limit crime in Canada we need to 
consider what works and not what sounds good in the media. "Reason 
over passion" is a motto we should apply to Canada's criminal justice system.

I am a proud Liberal in the tradition of Laurier, Pearson and 
Trudeau. We can present a consistent and principled alternative to 
the Conservatives. We cannot be true to our principles and merely 
repeat platitudes about being "tough on crime." Canada deserves 
better and we can, and must, do better.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom