Post #545 1000 words; 5 minutes to read By Benjamin Perrin.   Benjamin Perrin is a law professor at the University of British Columbia and the author of the bestselling book, Indictment: The Criminal Justice System on Trial, (see earlier post).  This is an edited version of a piece that appeared originally in https://churchforvancouver.ca/why-my-faith-led-me-away-from-tough-on-crime/.     Many conservative politicians in Canada and the United States have long championed what they term as ‘tough on crime’ policies. This approach, characterized by more police, harsher punishm ..read more

Post #244 1100 words; 5 minutes to read.   This post is reprinted with permission from Law360 Canada, one of a series on prisoner experience they are publishing. The original link from February 2023 is https://www.law360.ca/ca/articles/1761102.  This series of posts recently won an aware for online publishing:  https://canadianonlinepublishingawards.com/2022/winners.   We don’t know how many people are arrested each year in Canada, but it’s a lot.  About 2 million crimes are reported to police each year.  Prior to Covid there were more than 300,000 criminal c ..read more

Post #244 1100 words; 5 minutes to read.   This post is reprinted with permission from Law360 Canada, one of a series on prisoner experience they are publishing. The original link from February 2023 is https://www.law360.ca/ca/articles/1761102.  This series of posts recently won an aware for online publishing:  https://canadianonlinepublishingawards.com/2022/winners.   We don’t know how many people are arrested each year in Canada, but it’s a lot.  About 2 million crimes are reported to police each year.  Prior to Covid there were more than 300,000 criminal c ..read more

Post #243 950 words; 4 minutes to read This post was authored by graduate student Michelle Reinink based on work done by Dr Jamal Mansour  and colleagues at the University of Lethbridge.     Imagine that you are walking late at night. You hear footsteps behind you and as you turn, someone hits you, grabs your wallet and runs off. You report to the police and describe the attacker. Some days later, the police ask you to look at a lineup for the person they suspect attacked you. It’s has been some time since the crime occurred. You select someone confidently stating, “that’s ..read more

Post #243 950 words; 4 minutes to read This post was authored by graduate student Michelle Reinink based on work done by Dr Jamal Mansour  and colleagues at the University of Lethbridge.     Imagine that you are walking late at night. You hear footsteps behind you and as you turn, someone hits you, grabs your wallet and runs off. You report to the police and describe the attacker. Some days later, the police ask you to look at a lineup for the person they suspect attacked you. It’s has been some time since the crime occurred. You select someone confidently stating, “that’s ..read more

Post # 242 800 words; 4 minutes to read Summary: a criminal conviction carries many consequences that can last a lifetime.  The idea that a sentence is ever ‘over’ is not consistent with reality. An earlier version of this post appeared in September, 2017  – here.  The issues are at least as relevant today. It’s commonly believed that the consequence of being convicted of a crime lies in the sentence imposed by a judge.  “Do the crime, do your time”, one often hears.  But as a report from the Canadian Bar Association shows, the sentence imposed is only one co ..read more

Post #241 1000 words; 4 minutes to read Summary: While timely appointment of judges is important, there are good reasons to believe that the delays in criminal courts are not primarily due to lack of judges, despite media reports.   Many recent media headlines have given the impression that there is a major problem in criminal justice in Canada due to the lack of appointments by the federal government.  Important cases, we hear, are being dismissed because there aren’t judges to hear them. But to what extent is this correct? A recent piece in the Toronto Star by Toronto lawyer Jody B ..read more

Post #241 1000 words; 4 minutes to read Summary: While timely appointment of judges is important, there are good reasons to believe that the delays in criminal courts are not primarily due to lack of judges, despite media reports.   Many recent media headlines have given the impression that there is a major problem in criminal justice in Canada due to the lack of appointments by the federal government.  Important cases, we hear, are being dismissed because there aren’t judges to hear them. But to what extent is this correct? A recent piece in the Toronto Star by Toronto lawyer Jody B ..read more

Post #240 900 words; 4 minutes to read Summary: The serious problems revealed in the Zameer case are not rare; they occur every day in Canada’s justice system but usually do not get noticed. The acquittal recently in Toronto of Umar Zameer on charges of having murdered police officer Jeffrey Northrup has generated a huge amount of commentary.  However much of this commentary has focused only on this case and has not addressed the vitally important larger issues it raises. Presumption of guilt Although our system often speaks with pride about the presumption of innocence, the rea ..read more

Post #240 900 words; 4 minutes to read Summary: The serious problems revealed in the Zameer case are not rare; they occur every day in Canada’s justice system but usually do not get noticed. The acquittal recently in Toronto of Umar Zameer on charges of having murdered police officer Jeffrey Northrup has generated a huge amount of commentary.  However much of this commentary has focused only on this case and has not addressed the vitally important larger issues it raises. Presumption of guilt Although our system often speaks with pride about the presumption of innocence, the rea ..read more