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Solitary confinement and policy essay
Solitary confinement and policy essay
Solitary confinement and policy essay
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A constitutional challenge with regards to the segregation laws in Canada has been issued by a civil liberties group, The Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Jonathan Lisus, a lawyer of The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, presented the argument that the current administrative segregation practice by the federal government is inherently unconstitutional. These questionable practices of administrative segregation results in incarcerating inmates in solitary confinement for an indefinite amount of time. Lisus suggests a statute to be introduced to Canada’s correctional system and stated, “There is no statute against the mentally ill or against those who have done nothing and are placed in isolation because of incompatibility,” A limit
This essay will analyze the entire case R. v. Morin and evaluate the facts, issues, positions of the Crown and accused. The decisions made during this case and reasons that ultimately lead to the final verdict by the Ontario Court of appeal. This essay will evaluate the decision of whether the delay of the R. v. Morin and the cases that it set precedent for were valid decisions made by the court. This evaluation will describe the arguments made on both sides during these trials. It will discuss how the decision made by the court to decide the trial delay being reasonable were the correct decisions and that section 11(b) of the Charter was not violated. The essay will also discuss the court cases R. v. Godin...
The Canadian justice system, although much evolved, is having difficulty eliminating bias from the legal system. Abdurahman Ibrahim Hassan, a 39 year old man, died on June 11 in a Peterborough hospital, while under immigration detention. He came to Canada in 1993 as a refugee and was suffering from mental, and physical health issues such as diabetes and bipolar disorder. There was an overwhelming amount of secrecy surrounding the death of this troubled Toronto man, and to this day no light has been shed on this tragedy. (Keung, 2015) An analysis of the official version of the law will reveal how race class and gender coincide with the bias within the legal system.
Search and seizure in Canada has evolved into the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as an important asset in the legal world. The case of R v. TSE sets an important example of how unreasonable search and seizure is in Canada. An important section that relates to this case is s. 8. The main concerns with this case are whether the police abuse their powers to search and seize Yat Fung Albert Tse, the fact that when the police did enter into the wiretap they did not have a warrant and also that it is a breach of privacy without concern.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) is an acclaimed organization that prevents discrimination through educating and promoting human rights in Ontario (OHRC, About the Commission). Their goal is for each individual in Ontario be valued; so that everyone can participate and feel they are an important part to the community while being respected and treated with dignity. As well, they make sure each individual take responsibility for the rights of others, so human rights can be achieved by all (OHRC, About the Commission). OHRC accomplishes this through wide range of educational activities and partnership initiatives to promote code violations and advancement of human rights and reduce discrimination, to decrease the occurrence of formal human rights complaints (OHRC, Public Education). Their website provides the public with access to a wide array of information and educational resources. OHRC provides educational sessions to employers, unions, professional associations, community organizations and other groups who are partners with them to develop a culture of human rights (OHRC, Public Education). While decreasing the occurrence of formal human rights complaints, they maintain fair hiring and employment practices and also encourages diversity in the workforce and they do not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment in the workforce. (OHRC, Employment) When the OHRC deliver services to the public they make sure to be responsive to the diversity of the population served, and stay fair to each person, and their right to be free from discrimination by keeping them informed always (OHRC, Our Commitment to Service). Section 30 of the Ontario Human Rights Code allows OHRC to prepare, approve and publish human rights policie...
Many people have tried to stop the use of solitary confinement by calling it “Cruel and Unusual Punishment. (Holt vs. Sarver, 1969).” People also say that it is a direct violation of our eighth amendment rights. The definition of cruel and unusual punishment is as follows: “Such punishment as would amount to torture or barbarity, any cruel and degrading punishment not known to the Common Law, or any fine, penalty, confinement, or treatment that is so disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community. (Farflex Inc., 2011).” Studies show that solitary confinement can alter the mental state of a prisoner so far that it is detrimental to his or her health; I see no reason why this cannot be classified as cruel and unusual punishment. In an experiment conducted by the BBC’s Horizon group, they studied the effects ...
trial of two men for the 1971 murder of Helen Betty Osborne in The Pas Manitoba.
Metzner, J. L., & Fellner, J. (2010). Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness in U.S. Prisons: A Challenge for Medical Ethics. The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 38(1), 104-108.
The study continues on to explain further ramifications, such as, physical effects. This shows some of the devastating effects the practice of administrative segregation has on inmates’ mental and physical well-being. Often, it is the mentally ill that are unfairly subject to this practice. “Mentally ill inmates may find themselves inappropriately placed in administrative segregation because of a lack of other suitable placements, protective custody reasons, or disruptive behavior related to their mental illness.” (O 'Keefe 125). Instead of providing safety to inmates and staff as the prison system claims administrative segregation is for, its main objective is social isolation. Which is one of the harmful elements of AS that makes it torture. Additionally, an annual report from the Canadian Government’s Office of the Correctional Investigator’s states, “close to one-third of reported self-injury incidents occurred in (federal prisons) segregation units”. Therefore, one can infer that the negative effects of AS are contradictory to providing safety to inmates. UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendéz proposed administrative segregation should be banned as the “isolation of inmates amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or – in more severe cases – to torture.” The ramifications of administrative segregation amount to what is defined as torture by lawyer and human rights Juan Mendéz. Administrative segregation is an unconstitutional treatment of inmates and does not constitute the values of our society, or the dignity and humanity of all people. Which is contradictory to rehabilitating a person to be physically, socially and mentally restored for reintroduction into society. Its use in Canada’s prison system is unjustified, unethical, and ultimately,
In the featured novel “Crimes of colour: racialization and the criminal justice system in Canada” the authors, Wendy Chan and Kiran Mirchandani illustrate their view points of Canada`s Criminal Justice System and how race and crime are connected. The first chapter, “From Race and Crime to Racialization and Criminalization,” addresses the connection that ‘race’ in Canadian Criminal Law is not really defined but rather it is viewed as a ‘trait’ possessed by individuals and groups (12). The authors want to argue the shift from “race” to racialization and “crime” to “criminalization”. They want to focus on the process of race and “highlight the historical influences of colonization and conquest in shaping the ideological frameworks developed around categories of race” (12). This concept of racialization allows one to understand racial meanings and other social forces like political, economic, religious factors. Also defines groups that were not previously defined as ‘races’ are now are able to consider the various
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted under the Pierre Trudeau government on April 17, 1982. According to Phillip Bryden, “With the entrenchment of the Charter into the Canadian Constitution, Canadians were not only given an explicit definition of their rights, but the courts were empowered to rule on the constitutionality of government legislation” (101). Prior to 1982, Canada’s central constitutional document was the British North America Act of 1867. According to Kallen, “The BNA Act (the Constitution Act, 1867) makes no explicit reference to human rights” (240). The adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms significantly transformed the operation of Canada’s political system. Presently, Canadians define their needs and complaints in human rights terms. Bryden states, “More and more, interest groups and minorities are turning to the courts, rather than the usual political processes, to make their grievances heard” (101). Since it’s inception in 1982 the Charter has become a very debatable issue. A strong support for the Charter remains, but there also has been much criticism toward the Charter. Academic critics of the Charter such as Robert Martin believe that the Charter is doing more harm than good, and is essentially antidemocratic and UN-Canadian. I believe that Parliament’s involvement in implementing the Charter is antidemocratic, although, the Charter itself represents a democratic document. Parliament’s involvement in implementing the Charter is antidemocratic because the power of the executive is enhanced at the expense of Parliament, and the power of the judiciary is enhanced at the expense of elected officials, although, the notwithstanding clause continues to provide Parliament with a check on...
Many people and nations around the world are deprived of human rights. The government in the countries or nations usually can not help the people being deprived. Either because the government is too poor to, it is not one of the things the government is looking into, or the government does not know or care. Because of this certain people, or even whole populations are denied human rights and their living conditions and way of life are usually not on the positive side of things. There are many wealthier countries trying to help but sometimes that is not enough. To what extent should Canada have a role in working to increase human rights protection in other nations?
go to the police, or maybe to the government? What if the police and government
Thousands of people statewide are in prisons, all for different reasons. However, the amount of mental illness within prisons seems to go unaddressed and ignored throughout the country. This is a serious problem, and the therapy/rehabilitation that prison systems have do not always help those who are mentally ill. Prison involvement itself can contribute to increased suicide (Hills, Holly). One ‘therapy’ that has increased throughout the years has been the use of solitary confinement, which has many negative effects on the inmates.
Wrongful convictions in Canada is a very sensitive and disturbing topic that has created concerns as to why individuals are being wrongfully convicted. As people in Canada read about cases involving wrongful conviction, such as Guy Paul Morin, Rubin Carter and David Millguard, it often undermines their faith in the criminal justice system. Tunnel vision, the use of questionable DNA evidence, and eyewitness misidentification are the three main causes of wrongful convictions in Canada. Recognizing and addressing these concerns has led to a reduction in cases of wrongful convictions in Canada.
In every society around the world, the law is affecting everyone since it shapes the behavior and sense of right and wrong for every citizen in society. Laws are meant to control a society’s behavior by outlining the accepted forms of conduct. The law is designed as a neutral aspect existent to solve society’s problems, a system specially designed to provide people with peace and order. The legal system runs more efficiently when people understand the laws they are intended to follow along with their legal rights and responsibilities.