Justice means more than punishment: speaker

Posted By CECILIA NASMITH Northumberland Today.com

 

GRAFTON -- Justice need not be a cookie cutter, and revenge need not be our only response, St. Leonard's Society executive director Elizabeth White declared recently at St. Andrew's United Church in Grafton.

 

Appearing as the first speaker in a series of talks on how today's issues affect the Christian community, White noted that the first prisons were built by Quakers to replace physical punishment with an opportunity for repentance and reflection.

 

Today's prisons are a statement of disapproval for the offence and a return to punishment.

 

"Punishment actually limits the conversation to the offender. It does not deal with the victim or society, except in the most emotional way. It does little to heal the harms done," White said.

 

The government is contemplating a more repressive criminal justice system, with plans to increase the corrections budget 36% by 2013 and many new ideas -- such as mandatory minimums in sentencing.

 

"Mandatory minimums mean the ability to fit the punishment to the crime is fettered. By getting away from discretion, you create rigidity that is not responsive to society's needs," White said.

 

"Extensive research conducted by Canadian-government bodies that shows the longer someone is in prison, the more likely they are to reoffend after release.

 

"There's no credible evidence anywhere that shows prison stops people from committing crimes. Crimes take place within prison walls."

 

White considers it vital that prisons address the root causes of crime by offering such programming as counselling and employment training.

 

Though mainly concerned with longer-term penitentiaries, she noted that 65% of those in provincial corrections facilities are on remand and denied bail. Even if they are found not guilty, many have lost their homes, their jobs and sometimes custody of their children over these months spent behind bars.

 

As for penitentiaries, she said, they cost $135,000 per inmate per year to look after. Community supervision costs just under $25,000 per person annually. That penitentiary money would be better spent, she suggested, on such crime- prevention measures as education and employment training.

 

Statutory release, which proposed legislation seeks to eliminate, is not a get-out-of-jail- free card. It is earned and comes with conditions -- compared to those who do serve their full time and are released with no supervision during that crucial period of reintegrating into society.

 

Many hard-core criminals who have done despicable things should never be released, but that would account for no more than an estimated 5% of the prison population.

 

An estimated 11% of prisoners have mental-health issues for which services are all but inaccessible in the community.

 

And though Aboriginals account for 4% of the general population, they account for 17% of the men's prison population and 31% of the women's.

 

The first three months after release are the time when one is most likely to reoffend. Enough reintegration resources and supports that offer an environment of dignity and respect are vital to help those who have been separated from society for a long time take on the reins of responsibility.

 

"We all benefit if ex-offenders establish themselves as law-abiding tax-paying members of society," she pointed out.

 

A good-news story that does not seem to get the attention it deserves is that Canada's overall crime rate has trended downward for at least 20 years. In the last 10 years, it is down 15%.

 

More than half the victims of violent crime are under the age of 30, though they represent only 37% of the population.

 

Seniors, on the other hand, represent only 2% of the victims of violent crime.

 

Toronto is actually a very safe place to be in terms of robbery. Though Toronto's rate is 133 per 100,000 population, it has not grown beyond that for at least a decade."

 

White is pleased to see the concept of restorative justice emerging, bringing offender and victim together to address the harm that was done.

 

"It's not for everyone, but it can bring more satisfaction to the victim than does the formal court process. A victim wants to know why. Being with the offender allows them to hear and move on a little bit," she said.

 

cnasmith@northumberland today.com