Pubdate: Fri, 25 Feb 2011 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2011 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Ian Mulgrew Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) CONSERVATIVES' TOUGH-ON-CRIME AGENDA BASED ON FALSE PREMISES Program Will Replicate What Has Failed in the U.S., and Critics Say a Study That Supports the Government Plan Is Sloppy and 'Embarrassing' The Conservative administration in Ottawa continues to advocate U.S. Republican-style legal solutions even though the American justice system is in a shambles. Prison populations are exploding, police and prosecution budgets are strapped and in many states the legal-defender system has all but collapsed. There is broad consensus the system costs too much and makes so many mistakes that few receive justice. A broad coalition that crosses ideological lines -from the conservative Heritage Foundation to the left-of-centre American Civil Liberties Union -recently called for sweeping reforms, the first major overhaul in 40 years. Their civil system is also collapsing -an estimated 80 per cent of the poor don't have access to justice. The underfunding is so bad that in some courts, filings are not being accepted because they can't afford paper to make copies. In New Hampshire, civil jury trials were suspended for various periods in 2009 to save money. Supreme Court of Texas Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson said his state is preparing to close legal-aid offices, fire lawyers, refuse services to those who are being evicted but have the legal right to remain in their houses, and families who suffer from domestic violence will have nowhere to turn. "How will we handle the hordes of ... litigators who cannot afford legal representation?" he asked. "What will we do to prevent those who are innocent from languishing in our jails and prisons?" What don't the Tories understand about the situation south of the 49th parallel? Why would Public Safety Minister Vic Toews offer us a supposedly tough-on-crime package that will replicate what failed in the U.S. and cost us at least $2.7 billion we can't afford over the next five years? The stiffer parole standards alone are expected to cost about $386 million, the elimination of early parole an extra $200 million. Most of the money will go to building new jails and housing the increased prison population, but who really knows? Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page says the government has not offered "sufficient fiscal transparency" about the initiatives. He thinks the price tag will be at least $5 billion. Overall, the administration admits the costs of the crime program have climbed to about $650 million more than first predicted. They will undoubtedly go up. The opposition parties say the government has its priorities out of whack. No kidding. The Tory agenda is grounded in two phoney assumptions -that crime is increasing and that stiffer sentences will reduce it. Aiming to support that stance, former Alberta prosecutor Scott Newark's recently released study for the right-leaning Macdonald-Laurier Institute was dismissed as bunk. Critics said the erstwhile Harper government adviser compared apples and oranges, provided inaccurate data and ignored evidence contrary to his thesis to falsely assert: "Serious violent crime is increasing." Toronto lawyer Eddie Greenspan and criminology prof Anthony Doob savaged him for sloppy, distorted research. Simon Fraser University criminologist Neil Boyd finished him off: "It's really badly done. It's embarrassing, actually." StatsCan figures for years have tracked a steady reduction of crime across Canada -since 2000, the violent crime rate has gone down every year. Still, I think crime rates are a mug's game -they fluctuate and there are so many variables no one is sure why. Suffice to say the Tory agenda is not supported by the facts and the response they advocate has failed miserably in the U.S. All you have to do is stop, look at the data and listen to the debate south of the border. Instead of rhetoric, we need evidence-based, public-safety policies. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom