On May 6, 2018, Laura Lynch, as guest host of “The Sunday Edition” on CBC, interviewed Paula Mallea, a lawyer and the author of Beyond Incarceration: Safety and True Criminal Justice. Ms. Lynch noted that Canada has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the western world. Winston Churchill’s statement in the British House of Commons, 1910, “The mood and temper of the public in regard to the treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilization of any country” was echoed in law professor Michael Jackson’s comment that “prison is the acid test of our commitment to human rights”. Paula Mallea, in Beyond Incarceration . . . states that punishment and incarceration are regressive harmful measures for everybody involved. She argues for a system in which prison is no longer the default choice but reserved only for those who are a danger to society. Prison is harmful to both inmates and staff and we need to dismantle the whole system.
The Progressive Conservative Government under Stephen Harper adopted a “tough on crime” policy which failed to achieve its goals of being beneficial to either victims of crime or public safety. Ms. Mallea’s book notes that we resort to prison for everything. Although the Liberal Government has stated that it will repeal legislation about mandatory sentencing and introduce restorative justice, no action has been taken on these matters. Correctional officers resist the Governments actions to decrease use of solitary confinement, arguing that they need this punishment to control inmates, a fallacy that ignores both the harm it causes and use of more humane and effective options. Ms. Mallea urges that we take money out of our Industrial complex of prisons and invest in practices of prevention, rehabilitation, and Reintegration. We know what these practices are and how they work.
The CBC May 6 program “Canada’s Prison System Should be Radically Reduced” provided strong arguments for change and examples of countries who have made changes. The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world; three states, Texas, Florida, and California have reduced the cost of operating prisons by granting amnesty for criminals who are not violent and by making parole easier to obtain. In Finland, prisoners wear their own clothes and can leave daily to go to work. Correctional officers and inmates eat together. Guards do not carry guns. Prisoners in Denmark are permitted to have cell phones.
Paula Mallea believes that criminals, such as Paul Benardo should never be released into society. However, most of the inmates in our jails and prisons are people who were treated terribly as children, are dependent on drugs, or are mentally ill. What is needed is dealing with these issues rather that warehousing offenders in facilities that cause further harm rather than prepare inmates to return to the community. All prisoners will be released at some time and we want them to come out better than when they went in.
Journalists writing about the inhumanity of solitary confinement were instrumental in forcing federal and provincial governments to act. Consider how you might use your voice to bring about positive changes in our justice and correctional systems.
Pat McKeon, CSJ